Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We are all keenly aware of the challenges posed by the State's finances, where public expenditure continues to outstrip revenues collected. All public sector organisations must continue to deliver improved services in the context of constrained resources. The careful balancing of resources across organisations is an ongoing exercise. I understand that against this backdrop the agencies operating under the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation were recently informed of 2013 staffing targets as part of the ongoing employment control framework.

The HSA has had an excellent record in recent years in the context of declining resources, which has been achieved largely through the hard work of its staff, through workplace inspections and as a result of its development of innovative tools including BeSMART, its online risk assessment tool, its new online licensing portal designed to make compliance easier, simpler and less costly, and GeoSmart, its inspection management system. Furthermore, awareness campaigns, the involvement of industry organisations and its encouragement of greater compliance by employers contributed to the achievement of strong workplace health and safety levels in Ireland, including a reduction in fatal workplace injuries in 2012.

Sectoral changes, including the collapse in employment in the construction sector, have changed the operational landscape in which the HSA works, and the HSA will continue to adapt. Notwithstanding the concerns expressed about its 2013 staffing target and the undoubted challenges it faces, the authority has proved itself to be an adaptable and high-achieving organisation, having met all of its ECF targets since 2009. Its recent strategy and its programme of work for 2013 outline the HSA's commitment to working smarter - for example, the targeting of its resources at higher-risk sectors, such as agriculture, and places of work; the concentration of information and legislative programmes on higher-risk areas; and the identification of new ways of delivering services by deploying its innovative IT-enabled inspection management tools to support more effective inspections and making more use of desktop inspection for specialist areas - for example, in chemicals. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will work with the HSA over the course of 2013 to monitor progress on its targets and to achieve the best use of available staff and resources.

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