Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State's support for the Bill. My speech is well tethered as a result of his expression of support. Like anyone else who watched the episode of "Prime Time" which has been mentioned, I was shocked to learn that this sector is not governed by any rules or regulations. I compliment my colleague, Deputy Collins, on the introduction of a speedy response to what he witnessed when he watched the programme in question. It simply cannot be justified that in 2019, no State body has the power to investigate reports of accidents or injuries on fairground sites involving the use of funfair equipment.

The power of enforcement under this legislation is set out in chapter 2 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. This Bill seeks to amend section 8 of the 2005 Act to put in place a framework in primary legislation that outlines the specific duties of funfair operators, thereby ensuring the highest health and safety standards are in operation among funfair operators. This will minimise the potential dangers to users. There will have to be adequate user protections and warnings, for example. Given that there have been fatalities and injuries in this jurisdiction and elsewhere, as Deputy O'Reilly has outlined, Ireland needs to strive for the highest health and safety protections for recreational users of funfairs.

When the House debated tourism earlier this afternoon, we spoke of the need to develop Ireland as a green tourist destination and to grow our tourism product. Both of these needs fit together very well. As we seek to expand this country's tourism industry, we need to ensure it is a safe destination where the highest rules, regulations and requirements are adhered to. People who travel here will be comforted if they know we take these matters very seriously. We look forward to working with all stakeholders on this Private Members' Bill. I encourage Deputies on the other side of the House to advance any amendments they may seek to make to the Bill to ensure it addresses other matters. We would welcome such proposals.

I find it shocking that the HSE did not carry out any inspections of fairground and funfair equipment, such as roller coasters, between 2011 and 2016. We all have hurdy-gurdies in our own counties. We make a point of bringing our kids to them for a day out. We even bring our friends' kids. We are really putting ourselves at risk, which we never thought we would do. We assumed that there were rules and regulations. We would never have put anybody else at risk. We would not allow our kids out on a swing or down on a slide at home without checking it to ensure it is safe. When we walk into amusement parks, we let our kids go up on wheels at high speed. We stand and gaze at them while automatically assuming everything is hunky-dory. That is the case 99.9% of the time, but if anything happens, God forbid, there is no fallback and no protection for parents or friends.

I will not speak for much longer on this legislation. I welcome the Minister of State's support for this timely Bill, which is certainly needed in 2019. I encourage the Fine Gael side of the House to afford this legislation the time it needs. What is the quickest pathway we can avail of to bring it though? We do not want to kill Christmas and we do not want to prevent people from having fun. We want to ensure people can get out there in the knowledge that it is safe to do so.

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