Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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In regard to safety regulations, I assume the Deputy is referring to occupational safety regulations, the enforcement of which is the responsibility of the Health and Safety Authority, which operates under the aegis of my Department.

There is a legal duty on employers under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, which is supplemented by specific occupational safety regulations relating to electricity under Statutory Instrument No. 299 of 2007, to ensure as far as is reasonably practicable that there are safe working conditions at their place of work. There is also a specific requirement on employers under that Statutory Instrument to ensure that those people who undertake work for an employer are competent. Also, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 504 of 2006) require clients to ensure that contractors are competent to carry out the work safely.

Section 7 of the Regulations states:

(4) A client shall not arrange for a contractor to carry out or manage construction work unless reasonably satisfied that the contractor has the competence to carry out or, as the case may be, manage that construction work and has allocated or will allocate adequate resources to enable the contractor to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on the contractor by or under the relevant statutory provisions. (It should be noted that the interpretation of "construction work" under these Regulations includes electrical work).

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is an independent statutory body which is responsible for the inspection and enforcement of occupational safety, health and welfare legislation. Complaints of non-compliance with statutory requirements or unsafe working practices may be addressed to the HSA at its national helpline Lo-call No. 1890 289 389.