Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

What members heard yesterday from the county manager is frightening. I would like to know if the Government will revisit the provisions introduced under section 80 of the 2005 Act. The vast majority of staff within local authorities must under health and safety legislation be retrained or at the very least trained to do the job they are doing. If not, they will be at risk. I heard on Joe Duffy's "Liveline" programme today that Army personnel are not allowed to cut lawns owing to health and safety regulations and that this task is being farmed out. We expect Army personnel to drive and use tanks but will not allow them to use a lawn mower, which is ridiculous.

Perhaps the Minister of State will say if the Minister intends to revisit the legislation concerned. The Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, stated earlier that the Government is reducing the administrative burden by driving better regulation. Does this mean the introduction of more regulation or the abolition of existing regulation? The Minister of State did not state clearly what he intends to do. Under law one is innocent until proven guilty. However, under health and safety regulations one is guilty until proven innocent. Health and safety officials have been bragging - I do not know if this is contained in its annual report - about convicting local authority personnel and holding them accountable. We need health and safety measures but regulations have become ridiculous and are placing a huge burden in terms of administrative costs on small businesses. We must look at this issue. Health and safety regulations add as much as 25% to the cost of a local authority project. The cost of a job projected to cost €1 million will increase by €250,000 because of health and safety requirements. A whole new industry has been created by bureaucrats.