Written answers

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Department of Agriculture and Food

Farm Safety

11:00 pm

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 91: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the stage of the implementation process that the new Farm Safety Action Plan 2009 to 2012 is at; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26068/09]

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is the national body in Ireland with the responsibility for securing safety and health at work. The HSA has also the responsible body for implementing the Farm Safety Action Plan, 2009 to 2012, which was launched by my colleague Mr. Billy Kelleher T.D., the then Minister for Labour Affairs, in December 2008. This Plan sets out seven ambitious goals and a number of actions to raise national awareness of occupational safety and health in agriculture and to reduce fatalities and accidents on Irish farms.

My Department fully supports the HSA in implementing this Farm Safety Action Plan. To-date Working Groups have been established with the remit of implementing each of the goals identified in the Farm Safety Plan. Each Working Group consists of members from the Farm Safety Partnership Advisory Committee as well as people from the agricultural sector with specific expertise in the particular farm safety or health area of concern. My department is represented on the Working Group with responsibility for Goal 2 "To increase the uptake of training on farm safety and occupational health". These Working Groups are in the process of devising a strategy to ensure that all the Goals and Actions listed in the Farm Safety Action Plan are achieved by the end of 2012.

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