Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Will the Minister of State consider a Bill that includes the Law Reform Commission's wording on corporate manslaughter? Does he object to its wording or to the concept of introducing legislation to deal with corporate manslaughter?

Is the Minister of State aware that 73 people died in the workplace last year and that 42 died in the workplace so far this year? There were only 40 prosecutions and only 94% of cases were successful, amounting to fines totalling €463,000 and to an average fine per prosecution of approximately €10,000. Does the Minister not accept that a wayward captain of industry or operator would consider a cost-benefit analysis in which he would weight the cost of replacing a faulty machine worth in excess of €100,000, for example, against the likely fine of €10,000 which would be awarded against him if he were caught? Such a fine is a pittance in comparison with the value of some of the operations in which workers lost their lives last year. In light of this, is it not extremely important that we move quickly to ensure a corporate manslaughter provision within the framework legislation of the State?

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