Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Chairman on his elevation. I did not have the opportunity to do that last week, and I am sure he will do a fantastic job. I raise an issue that has been raised many times in this House in recent years, which is farm safety. It is one of the key issues that we need to prioritise as we start off this Seanad. Unfortunately, over the past decade there has been no major change.

Some 40% of all fatalities in workplaces happen in an agricultural setting, even though the sector comprises only 5% of the overall workforce. When we first sat yesterday week, a neighbour of mine was unfortunately being buried that same day. He was another man who lost his life in a farm fatality. That was the second person I knew in Cork who had died in six weeks.One man was killed in a tractor accident while another man over in the Rising Sun was killed by a bull.

This is a blight on our communities and on our society. It is about not only the people who are dying but about the families who are left behind and how we deal with them. As I said, the statistics have not changed and 40% of all fatalities are related to agriculture. We need to move forward and to look at changing the process because what we have done in the past decade has failed. That has to be the starting line. The Oireachtas produced a report, in which Members were involved, but there has been no major change in the percentage of people who have lost their lives.

If one looks at the basics, we are paying 23% VAT on farm safety material. That is sinful and I do not know how we can stand over the fact that if one wants to buy a new PTO shaft, 23% of the price goes to the Exchequer. This has to change. Sixteen year olds can do a theory test and then drive a tractor that can do 50 km/h with a load of more than 20 tones behind it. That is absolutely ridiculous. We have laws in this land that have not been updated and are for a different age. To really make a change when it comes to farm safety and to really change what is happening on our family farms, we need to make hard and somewhat unpopular decisions.

It has to be one of the priorities of this Seanad. Realistically, this group of 60 individuals has to pioneer certain issues. I will be pioneering farm safety and I will be looking for the Cathaoirleach's help when it comes to this issue because it affects all of our communities. I have seen two fatalities in my locality in the past six weeks. I do not want to go to any more of these funerals. It cannot continue. We need to have major change because what has been done in the past decade has not been successful. A Seanad Public Consultation Committee debated farm safety. We need to do the same again and to get the key principals and key actors around the table, whether health and safety or the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and deliver on it.

We are going to have a farm safety week in a few weeks' time but that has to change drastically. It cannot be about promoting farm safety just for that one week. The statistics state it has not worked. We need to change because if we do not, the statistics will not change. Some 40% of all accidents and fatalities will be in a small cohort of less than 5% of the workforce, and that is unacceptable.