Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and welcome him to the Chamber. I congratulate him on his appointment and wish him luck. He has inherited an important portfolio at an important time. In this regard, I will not refer again to Brexit.

On farm safety, it is welcome that there has been a 40% reduction in fatalities, from 30 in 2014 to 18 in 2015, but that is scant consolation to the families and friends of the 18 who lost their lives in 2015. As the Minister mentioned, the most important and best way of handling this problem is education. I acknowledge the schemes he mentioned and how he would like to see farm safety become part of the primary and secondary schools curriculums. In achieving this, however, we would miss a generation but it would be a good investment for the future. I would like to see more stringent modules in the curriculum as opposed to the optional use of websites or colouring competitions, for example. I would like to see an initiative similar to the road safety programme of the Road Safety Authority or the green flag initiative to promote environmental awareness. If one learns to ride a bicycle at three or four, one can ride one for life. It is at this early stage that we should teach the dangers and the importance of good practice and safety. This knowledge would remain with the children for life. While all of them may not end up working on farms, they will all visit one at some stage. Unfortunately, the casualty is not always the farmer or worker on the farm; sometimes the casualty is a visitor.

It would be helpful to have a high-profile individual to front the farm safety campaign. This strategy worked for the Road Safety Authority. While I was sceptical initially about the use of Mr. Gay Byrne to front the Road Safety Authority, I believe it worked extremely well. We should consider a high-profile sportsperson, such as a GAA player, or a television presenter who is well got and liked by young people and who could make an impression on them. This worked for the Road Safety Authority.

I welcome the inclusion of an element of farm safety in the knowledge transfer schemes. This could be pursued to a far greater extent. I would go so far as to say there could and should be knowledge transfer schemes specifically on farm safety. The feedback from the knowledge transfer schemes is excellent. Farmers will obtain more information from one another than from an outside body that might be forcing it on them. I would seriously consider a knowledge transfer scheme solely on the issue of safety.

There are other schemes I would like to see introduced. I plead with the Minister to introduce one in particular, the PTO scrappage scheme, which has been mooted and lobbied for. As we all know, the PTO is the cause of many of the accidents on farms. If there were a scrappage scheme, an old, worn, broken or damaged PTO that is being replaced could be returned to the supplier. Not only would a scheme offer a financial incentive, it would mean the old PTO would be taken out of the equation. At present, even a diligent farmer puts the old PTO in the shed when he has replaced it. He scraps it himself until some occasion when, late at night when he is under pressure trying to finish a job or at the weekend when the supplier is closed, he reuses it to complete an hour's work if the new one is worn or broken. It is natural for him to say he will get another hour out of the old one. The scheme I propose would decommission the old PTO. With a small financial incentive, the frequency of replacement could be increased.

A number of measures have been introduced in the interest of farm safety, particularly the road traffic legislation and the measures on trailer haulage and trailer weights. Unfortunately, however, the Minister needs to look into this. There is much confusion among the various bodies. Representatives and others have been in contact with me on this. I have noted two relevant incidents. In the first, a farmer was stopped and summonsed and received penalty points for going inside the yellow line to let traffic by. In the second, an individual was stopped and treated similarly for staying outside the yellow line on the grounds that he should have pulled in. Do the enforcers not know the new laws? I also encountered a case in which an individual was pulled in, summonsed and given penalty points for not displaying a weight plate on a trailer weighing way under 19 tonnes. The weight at which the weight plate is required is 19 tonnes. While the laws are introduced in the best interests of the people and with the best outcomes in mind, they can cause more confusion and become problematic if the enforcers do not understand them.

The bottom line on most issues we discuss is money. One of the easiest and best ways to solve many of the issues concerning farm safety is helping farmers and increasing their margins. If they do not have sufficient disposable income, it is very hard for them to update the machinery or enhance their safety procedures and methods. This is no different from any other walk of life, irrespective of the profession. If the tyres of the car are bald and need to be replaced but disposable income is at a minimum, the replacement will be put on the long finger and bills of a more pressing nature will be accorded priority. Until we can improve the margins of farmers, we will always have a safety problem by virtue of there being insufficient money to spend on addressing it.

Sometimes the mental health of farmers is not mentioned. There were 18 deaths in 2015 from accidents involving machinery or animals. According to the Central Statistics Office, there were 24 agri-related suicides. We ought to be seriously concerned about this and offer support in this area. There is a lot of pressure on farmers in that they are fighting against the weather, prices and everything that could conceivably be fought against on a farm to make ends meet. This leads to a lot of pressure. When we talk about 18 farm accident deaths, we cannot ignore the fact that in the same year, there were 24 deaths from suicide.

What other measures is the Minister considering introducing in this area? As mentioned, I would like to see a PTO scrappage scheme. I would like the Minister to negotiate with the insurance companies so they could give a premium reduction to those who carry out a farm safety audit. This would work in the interest of both the insurance company and farmer. I would like the Minister to consider seriously placing responsibility for farm safety, in particular, and safety in the agri-sector under one body. The Minister of State, Deputy Pat Breen, is ultimately responsible for the HSA. The Irish Maritime Administration, which is responsible for safety at the fisheries end, falls under the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. Could all these areas be under the one body? This would be preferable.

The Minister mentioned the safety of farm buildings. Unfortunately, to qualify in respect of farm buildings, one has to be a young farmer. All deaths so far this year from farm accidents were of farmers over 60. This needs to be addressed.I am pushing my time a small bit.