Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Kenny for his question. As someone with an agricultural background, I am very conscious of health and safety and the issues which may arise at marts. The Health and Safety Authority, HSA, is responsible for the enforcement of the relevant statutory provisions set out in the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and associated regulations related to workplace health and safety, including the promotion of health and safety in the workplace. The authority works to a detailed annual programme of work and carries out inspections across all sectors of employment, based on the level of risk associated with different sectors, in addition to carrying out inspections on foot of specific complaints received. The inspection of livestock marts is part of the authority's 2018 work programme.

The Health and Safety Authority is an independent statutory body and the inspection of workplaces is a day-to-day operational matter for the authority in which I have no role. The agriculture sector has a higher than average fatal and non-fatal injury rate and the authority devotes a relatively high level of its resources to agricultural safety initiatives, including inspections. Livestock safety is a major issue in agriculture, being consistently the third most common cause of farm fatalities and the most prevalent cause of non-fatal injury. Livestock marts pose a unique set of health and safety risks as there are large numbers of animals present in unfamiliar surroundings. In the first instance, therefore, the owners and managers of marts must ensure that a full risk assessment has been carried out and that there is a safe system of work in place. A safe system of work is a legal requirement and mart owners have a legal responsibility to ensure that mart facilities do not create hazards or risks. Any such potential hazards or risks should be recorded in a safety statement which sets out how such hazards and risks are to be eliminated or reduced.

In terms of best practice the HSA recommends a total segregation of mart workers, farmers and other members of the public from livestock penning arrangements. In addition, the authority has produced a detailed document entitled "Guidance on the Safe Handling of Livestock at Marks and Lairages", which has been distributed to all operating marts around the country. I ask all mart owners and managers to take account of their legal responsibilities and to take the practical advice and guidance offered by the HSA.

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