Michael D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There has been much discussion on the agricultural sector and yesterday's very good news story about the Kerry Group. Unfortunately, we have had too many bad news stories in the agricultural sector, mainly because of accidents on farms. We all saw the horrific tragedy which befell the Spence family in Northern Ireland a number of weeks ago. I saw a report on the news of another man who lost his life yesterday in Westmeath. He was found dead in a slurry pit. I have some experience of this, in that last winter I had an accident on my farm when 13 stock went down into the slatted tanks. We need a serious debate with the Minister on farm safety. The largest number of deaths seem to be caused by slatted tanks and gases emitted following agitation. It is a serious issue when one sees the number of people who have lost their lives because of this.

As I stated, I spent a period of time in my tanks trying to take stock out and I would not do it again. I do not consider myself to be any more or less knowledgeable than most farmers about the dangers, and there is a lack of knowledge, which I also had, about the extent of the danger. It is only following the tragedy in Northern Ireland that people realise it. Three gases are emitted and one lungful of the wrong gas will kill a person. Unfortunately, this message is not out there in the agricultural community. I now know I was lucky. I spent six hours trying to take stock out of a tank underneath the ground, and one lungful of the wrong gas would have meant I would not be here today. It is as serious as this. There is an incredible lack of knowledge in the sector about this particular danger. I raise the issue because the slurry period will close at the end of the month and an enormous quantity of slurry will be agitated, taken out and applied to the land in the coming three weeks. We should hold this debate as soon as time can be made available because the information is not out there. If we hold such a debate and get coverage perhaps a life could be saved.