Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (No. 10 of 2005) came into effect on 1 September 2005. The only current proposal to amend the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 has arisen in the context of an ongoing review of Dangerous Substances legislation to overhaul the current licensing and regulatory regime for the retail petroleum and petroleum bulk storage sectors. My Department has identified the need to provide a legal basis to delegate certain powers to the Health and Safety Authority. These powers would allow the Health and Safety Authority to act on behalf of the Minister as a decision-making Body in respect of appeals of decisions made by Local Authorities on applications for licenses to store or sell petroleum products and other fuels. This is a relatively minor technical amendment to the 2005 Act.

The decision to delegate this power to the Health and Safety Authority has been taken following consultation with relevant stakeholders within the sector as part of the review of Dangerous Substances legislation and received Government approval in December 2018.