Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The HSA has an ongoing skills development programme. Its inspectors are very highly skilled across a range of functions and it has invested in that ongoing programme and not just for this year. The extra resources it is allocated builds on extra money, and extra places, that would have been allocated in terms of staff sanctioned during 2020. It strengthens our team to be able to deal with issues like Covid-19 and Brexit, which is also a major part of the work. It will be in a very strong position to do that and it is well supported by our Department. As a Department, we are responsive to needs and we responded to the extra needs the authority had in 2020. If the same needs arise down the line, we will be in a position to do that again.

The authority does engage in inspections, many of which are unannounced, in the sectors the Deputy identified and many others. In most cases, it is finding 92% compliance in workplaces, including in the meat sector. The Deputy might not agree with that but those are the facts in terms of what they would assess. It also engages with the sector. The total number of inspections co-ordinated by the HSA, in conjunction with inspectors from other Departments, is close on 17,000 with regard to compliance with the protocol for this year. That is a fair number.

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