Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 23: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she has plans to launch an updated initiative to improve safety practices on farms and to reduce the number of farm deaths and injuries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30082/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I am, of course, very concerned about the level of safety on our farms. Last year 18 people died on Irish farms (8 of these people were aged over 70) and this year to-date 10 people have died. It is estimated that there are some 3,000 injuries on farms each year. I strongly support the work of The Health and Safety Authority (HSA), which is charged with overall responsibility for promotion of workplace health, and safety.

The Farm Safety Partnership, an advisory committee to the HSA that is made up of representatives from the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, Teagasc and other farming groups, supports and co-ordinates the majority of research and promotional activities in relation to farm safety. On a practical level the HSA stand at the ploughing championships featured machinery safety demonstrations and provided advice on a range of farming related health and safety issues. A Code of Practice for the Prevention of Accidents and Occupational ill health in Agriculture was launched by the HSA at the ploughing championships in September 2006. The aim of the Code of Practice is to provide practical guidance to farmers and to help improve the level of safety and health in the agriculture sector.

My Department in conjunction with the Department for Labour Affairs circulated some 160,000 copies of the Code of Practice to all farmers in late November/early December 2006. Teagasc, the statutory body responsible for training in the agriculture sector, are providing half-day training courses for farmers on how to complete the Code of Practice. This course is run in every County and Teagasc aim to provide training for 9,000 farmers on the Code of Practice in 2007. I would strongly urge farmers to attend this course.

There is also serious concern at the number of elderly farmers suffering accidents on the farm and to highlight this issue, the Health and Safety Authority issued leaflets on "safety and elderly farmers" at the Ploughing Championships this year.

We are also concerned with child safety on farms and the HSA, together with Teagasc has developed a new child safety book. This was launched by the Minister for Labour Affairs at the Ploughing Championships this year. This free book illustrates the hazards, which may be encountered on a farm, and again I would strongly urge all farming parents to read the book with their children and thus ensure that the safety message gets across.

The provision of training is of utmost importance and especially in the area of Health and Safety. A twenty-hour training course is mandatory for all participants in the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS). My Department has ensured that one module of this training is devoted to Health and Safety in farming.

Finally, I would stress to all farmers the need to follow the guidance of the Health and Safety Authority and take ownership of the Code of Practice for the Prevention of Accidents and Occupational ill health in Agriculture.