Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)

Some Members of the House might come from agricultural backgrounds. They might work on the farm or be in the enjoyable position of having others do the work for them. Senator Leyden correctly highlighted the situation in agriculture where there have been many accidents resulting in the death or maiming of people, especially children. Are children included in the statistics for work-related accidents? They are not deemed to be workers and accidents affecting them might just be seen as unfortunate. Time and again one hears of children being killed on farms as a result of being on tractors or helping with various jobs on the farm.

The Chambers of Commerce of Ireland have launched a blistering attack on the Government for the way small and medium sized businesses have been abandoned with regard to funding for local authorities. I am a past president of Boyle Chamber of Commerce. We cannot put a price on safety for workers and employers. Employers tend to see the bottom line while employees see the issues that must be resolved. If something is not safe, the Government has a moral obligation to provide the right framework to deal with it.

This can be a difficult issue for employers. Business is all about the bottom line and economies of scale. It is difficult to implement the same health and safety procedures in a small business that employs nine or ten people as in a larger business such as Tesco. Has the Minister taken note that smaller businesses could be penalised? People will say one can claim expenses back through taxes and so forth but if one's bottom line is not strong it is difficult to claim back taxes. Smaller businesses might be put at a disadvantage. This is not to take away from the fact that safety must be a paramount concern.

Is an employee permitted to refuse to work simply because he or she claims it is detrimental to his or her welfare? When will the extra health and safety officers be recruited? It is little use introducing legislation if the proper procedures to implement it are not in place. My party supports this Bill and looks forward to a thorough debate on Committee Stage. We intend to table some amendments. They are not significant but they would benefit the Bill and assist in its implementation.

We have gone past the stage of accepting that loss of life can occur with some professions. We cannot accept that in any occupation. When the Bill is passed funding must be put in place to ensure the Bill's provisions are enforced and policed. In the 1970s and 1980s we tended to accept that loss of life and maiming was an occupational hazard when certain machines or tools were in use. I am glad we are trying to address this attitude. I look forward to a reasoned debate on the Bill.