Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are no guarantees in that answer. Yes, the HSA and all of its staff are doing a very good job, but the chief executive has been forced to write to the Secretary General of the Department to say that the target proposed is not achievable, based on his experience of current processes and mechanisms. The man whom we charge with heading up the authority that has done such a good job is saying he cannot do that any more. He cannot fulfil his role.

The Tánaiste spoke of workplace inspections. In 2013 the number of inspections will be down by 30%, and there will be further reductions in all services, including the work the HSA does in advising high-tech companies on their processes and resources for research and development. So, here we go again: last Monday there was a big glitz-and-glamour announcement about a research and development programme, but on Thursday one of the agencies charged with assisting that programme has to write to the Department to say it will not be able to assist these companies in doing their job.

A cut and paste answer to that specific charge made by someone charged by this House with delivering a function is frankly not good enough. It is clear in the Secretary General's letter to the HSA that the Minister has signed off on these targets. The authority knows it cannot deliver on them and has outlined the consequences. Again, will the Tánaiste make a specific intervention to ensure the authority will be resourced to deliver? He spoke about tight resources, but the HSA, in its letter to the Minister, has cited a number of examples of organisations, including the Houses of the Oireachtas, ComReg and the Commission for Energy Regulation, that have been given extra posts this year. We are telling an organisation in charge of protecting workers that it will not receive extra resources, while other organisations with less important remits will. It is a question of choices. Is the Tánaiste going to choose to act on behalf of the health and safety of workers?

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