Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 78: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on whether monitoring the operation of coal mines by her Department failed in the past to address the working condition of miners; if, in view of same, she has had discussions with the Department of Social and Family Affairs regarding the inclusion of miners in the occupational injury benefit scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47558/08]

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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This matter has already been raised with a number of Departments, including my own, by the Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. On the basis of the information available via the Committee, it would appear that this is a matter between the former miners and their former employers and insofar as the State may be concerned, a matter for further consideration under the social welfare code governing the State's disability and occupational illness benefit schemes.

The allegations regarding the policy of the provisions of the Mines and Quarries Act 1965 are, to the best of my knowledge, unproven. In any event, the legal advice available to me, is that the mere existence of statutory regulation in a specific sector does not, of itself, impose any duty of care on the State in relation to the employees in that sector. The matter of compensation to former miners is, consequently, not a matter for my Department.