Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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151. To ask the Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment the number of workplace inspectors in the employ of the HSA; the estimated full-year cost of their employment; and the percentage of businesses inspected by them in 2019 and to date in 2020. [28186/20]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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155. To ask the Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment the number of workplace inspectors in the employ of the HSA; the estimated full year cost of their employment; and the number of businesses inspected by them in 2019 and to date in 2020. [28192/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 151 and 155 together.

The staff of the Health and Safety Authority is comprised of both administration and inspector grades. The inspector grades comprise of Grade I (senior inspectors) as well as GII and GIII inspectors. Inspectors operate across all mandates of the Health and Safety Authority including occupational health and safety and market surveillance of products and chemicals. They may also be involved in either general inspection, specialist inspection, investigation or implementing policy developed at national, European and international level.

At the end of 2019, the Health and Safety Authority employed 181 staff, including inspectors, professional and technical specialists, administrators and clerical staff. Of the 181 staff, 105 were employed in inspector grades. Payroll costs for 2019 amounted to approximately €10M. The payroll costs for those in inspector grades was approximately €7.5M.

At the end of August 2020, the Health and Safety Authority employed 181 staff, including inspectors, professional and technical specialists, administrators and clerical staff. Of the 181 staff, 109 were employed in inspector grades. The total Exchequer pay allocation for the Health and Safety Authority in 2020 is €12m. Full year pay costs are not yet available.

In 2019, the Health and Safety Authority completed 10,302 inspections and investigations under its occupational health and safety, and chemical mandates.

From the beginning of 2020 to the end of August 2020, the Health and Safety Authority has completed 6,780 inspections and investigations under its occupational health and safety, and chemical mandates. Of these inspections / investigations, 3,265 addressed COVID-19.