Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will take it on board and report it to the various authorities. There are other areas similarly affected throughout the country. I live in a country area and know what flooding is all about. I acknowledge the inconvenience caused for motorists. I will get back to the Deputy about the issue raised.

As I said, I appreciate the well intentioned public safety motive behind the current proposal. However, the Bill is flawed and the Government cannot support bad legislation. It will support good legislation. This message has also been conveyed by Opposition speakers who spoke, including Deputy Mattie McGrath and Fianna Fáil Members. There are problems with the Bill which is premature, given that there is an full, ongoing review of storms Ophelia and Emma. As serious politicians, we should await the outcome of the review in order that we can all gain an understanding of the experiences across the various sectors of the economy. When the review is produced, the Government will determine whether policy, legislative or general guidance changes are required. I ask Sinn Féin to note that point.

The Bill seeks to amends the Health, Safety and Welfare at Work Act 2005 to provide that all places of work should shut during a status red severe weather warning issued by Met Éireann, unless exempted from doing so by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. Met Éireann's weather warning systems have no legal status. The requirement for a shutdown of workplaces during a status red severe weather warning would allow no room for discretion or pragmatism, or for adapting to local conditions. Local judgment is often required based on forecast conditions in respect of the circumstances in which it is appropriate for businesses and organisations to remain open or for essential personnel to attend work. Status red alerts can cover a variety of weather events, from rain and wind to snow, and only in very extreme circumstances would a red alert give rise to any form of business closure.

The provisions included in the Bill would not be workable, legally or practically. The Bill assumes there would always be notification of status red weather warnings, but that is not always the case. As I said, this could have unintended consequences. I mentioned the consequences for schools. Also to be borne in mind are hotels, hospitals and airports. According to the Bill, all of these places of work would have to cease work in the event that there was a status red weather warning. What would happen to the guests in hotels, schoolchildren, those in airports and customers? There is a real risk of creating a significant liability for the State under the Bill. It could leave the State open to legal action by employers forced to close their businesses but where a weather event did not materialise to the extent anticipated. That can happen from time to time as weather conditions vary from region to region.

The preliminary view of the Office of the Attorney General is that the Bill lacks the legal precision required for the amendment of the criminal law. Do we ignore the advice of the Attorney General? Good Governments will not do so. There is safety, health and welfare at work legislation which offers robust protection for workers, as does employment rights legislation. This Bill would confer on employers disproportionate duties and obligations that would go beyond what could be regarded as reasonable duties and obligations arising from work activities and the management of the workplace. The Bill, as drafted, is potentially far-reaching and could have an impact on existing legislative rights, duties and protections. It would impose new liabilities on employers. Both IBEC and ISME have expressed strong reservations about the Bill and are opposed to it.

With regard to the public order aspects, as I said, the Bill clearly is well intentioned. As others said, it seeks to deal with a type of reckless behaviour of certain members of the public during Storm Ophelia, in particular. It was the most severe weather event in the country for a very long time. In addressing this issue the Bill aims to protect the safety of emergency service personnel and the general public from dangerous and reckless activities in times of high weather alerts. It does, however, raise significant concerns that require further examination by its sponsors. A key consideration is to ensure the criminal offences would be sufficiently precise to withstand legal challenges. As underlined, there are deficiencies in the Bill, as drafted, but the Minister is open to engagement with a view to the sponsors giving further consideration to the criminal justice elements of the Bill and bringing forward revised proposals in that regard. The practical issues that would arise if the Bill were to be enacted are numerous and capable of creating many difficulties.

I accept the good intentions of the Bill. However, it is fundamentally flawed. Fianna Fáil and Independent Members are in agreement with the Government that it is flawed both in content and impact.

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