Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 70: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the steps being taken to address the serious problems of death and injuries through farm accidents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14173/05]

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 105: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the steps being taken to address the problem of death and injury to children in farm accidents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14174/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 70 and 105 together.

The Health and Safety Authority is the State authority charged with overall responsibility for promotion and enforcement of workplace health and safety. The authority has a proactive inspection and enforcement programme, Programme of Work 2005, which focuses on high risk sectors, including agriculture, and aims to achieve an improvement in farm safety, and an increase in the percentage of farms with safety statements.

In launching the farm safety week last month, I noted that the trend of death and injuries of children on our farms is, thankfully, falling due to key initiatives taken by the Health and Safety Authority in the recent past. The four key themes for farm safety week were: safety for the elderly on farms; completion of the farm safety self-assessment document; tractor maintenance; and machine guarding, especially power take off, PTO, shafts.

However, it is clear to me that the primary responsibility for safety on the farm rests personally with each and every farmer and it is ultimately only at farm level that the actions can be taken which will avoid injuries and deaths in the future.