Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Tánaiste ar ais go dtí an Teach. I see this Bill as an improvement to the law particularly because at its core it involves protecting workers and punishing those, rightly and justifiably where appropriate, who do not protect their workers in the way that they should. Given this important purpose one would think the Government would have passed such legislation long before now. For the past 15 years Sinn Féin has been urging the Government, and supporting previous attempts, to introduce such safeguards into the workplace, in the form of a corporate manslaughter Bill. We tried to introduce a Bill in 2007 and supported attempts to do so in 2011 and earlier this year so we are pleased to lend our support to this Bill. I hope it receives the necessary support to ensure that it speedily becomes law.

According to the Health and Safety Authority, 421 people lost their lives at work between 2008 and 2016. This huge loss of life should act as a call to action for the Government. There should be no further delay in this matter. Hundreds of families are grieving the loss of their loved ones. The Government and employers owe it to those carrying the burden of that loss from the workplace to ensure that no more deaths due to deliberate neglect occur. Corporate killing, that is death in the workplace as a result of employer indifference, needs to be put on a statutory footing. It is totally unacceptable that companies through dereliction of their duty of care to those they employ are endangering their lives. If passed, this Bill will act as an incentive to employers to ensure their workplaces are a safe and secure environment for their staff.

The sentiments I am expressing today would then apply to workplaces North and South.In the North, the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act came into force in 2007. Its first application occurred in a Belfast court in May 2012 and resulted in a firm being convicted of the death of an individual due to neglect. The firm in question was fined a considerable sum of money in respect of the death of its employee.

Safety in the workplace makes sense for workers and employers. It protects workers and employers. It is important to highlight that we, too, have a Workers' Memorial Day to remember all those who died. In remembering those who died, we are also saying that no more tragedies at work should occur as a result of deliberate negligence.

It is not clear why the Government has failed in its duty of care towards the working population by failing to introduce a corporate manslaughter Bill. We can speculate about the motivation of employers when they oppose such legislation and if there is opposition from employers, then the Government must not be deflected from its primary responsibility in this area. Health and safety in the workplace is not conditional on the ability of the employer to pay for it. Nor should it be subject to a cost-benefit analysis. A price should not be placed on a worker’s life by either the employer or the Government. In circumstances where an employer is responsible for an employee’s death, it is unacceptable that it is too difficult to hold the company to account and be made liable for that death.

Sinn Féin believes that a legal incentive is required to concentrate the minds of the Government and employers in this important area. There should be no further delay in protecting workers' rights and their safety in the workplace. No person should ever have to go to work with the fear that they will not return to their family. I believe this Bill will provide the much needed safety for workers in their day to day lives.