Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. I believe this is his first time here. As has already been said, his apprenticeship has well been served. I wish him well in his new post. I will not repeat what has been said, but I will try to add some extra pieces.

Last year's report by you, a Chathaoirligh, on which Senator Conway was rapporteur, was an excellent report. We had a long debate on that report in the House over a year ago.

Sometimes people not involved in farming just see men on tractors behind ditches ploughing fields, saving hay or making silage and they do not think any more of it. However, 400,000 people live on farms, which is almost 10% of the population. It is a substantial number of people living or working on farms. Their job is not a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job. It can often be from 6 a.m. to midnight, particularly at this time of year. I live in a rural area and I hear tractors on the go when I get up in the morning and when I go to bed at night. This is the time when, if the weather is right, they have to make hay and save silage. In the coming weeks they will be dealing with corn.

It is a hands-on job that requires all the family to help. Sometimes we forget that boys will be boys and girls will be girls. Despite the amount of safety signs and instructions around the farm, young people are living in their own world when they might be sent out to do a job at home and they can forget the rules that are laid out in front of them. Against that backdrop, we need to be aware that the workplace of the farmer is not like the workplace of most other people.

We have a very bad record in terms of the number of people who die on farm accidents. The statistics that have been set out already. In 2014, 30 out of 55 fatal accidents in workplaces happened on farms. That is a terrible percentage. Despite that between 2012 and 2014, the level of farm inspections reduced by 55%.

The statistics I have are two years old; I ask the Minister to indicate if the budgets for farm safety inspections have been reinstated. Nobody likes to be inspected for anything given that it stops a day's work on the farm, but it is absolutely essential. According to the Health and Safety Authority, in 90% of cases following inspections, instructions were issued to carry out further safety improvements, in the other 10% of cases, prosecutions were initiated. That is a clear indication that we need regular inspection. It is only by inspection that people will take note. I do not like saying that, but it is the truth.

We all take shortcuts in our daily work. We do not read the full script we are handed and then we might be asked a question on the last two paragraphs and we are caught. We do not carry out enough research on what we are to talk about and then we might be caught. In the case of the farmer, they might not do all the checks; they might do two or three of them and then they are caught. However, the difference with them is, first, they work alone generally and, second, we are talking about risks to their lives.

Much has been said about the report initiated by Senator Conway from a group chaired by the Cathaoirleach. I was a member of the agriculture committee and was here for much of that debate. The people who were here that day opened my eyes. There is considerable positivity towards improving farm safety from Teagasc right up to the Health and Safety Authority, and also including ordinary farmers and sportspeople who want to get involved. With a proactive and positive approach to this, the figures will reduce.

I ask the Minister to outline the funding for inspections, which is key to the whole thing.