Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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432. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the total number of fatal and non-fatal farming incidents that were reported to the Irish HSA in the past five years; and the reasons for these incidents e.g. livestock, machinery etc. [62253/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The number of people who have tragically lost their lives in farming-related incidents in particular highlights the dangers of this sector. My Department and the Health & Safety Authority (HSA) are committed to continuing to work with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as well as through the HSA Farm Safety Partnership Advisory Committee, to reduce the level of fatalities, serious injuries and ill health in the agriculture sector.

The HSA’s dedicated Occupational Health and Safety Team delivers an annual programme of work across the agricultural, forestry, and fishing sectors. This team conducts approximately 1,500 inspections nationwide each year, undertakes farm fatal accident investigations, develops sector-specific policy, and provides administration and policy support to the Farm Safety Partnership Advisory Committee.

New tools and supports have been introduced by the HSA. BeSmart online risk assessments were updated for beef and tillage farmers, and new content was launched for dairy farming.

Work is also underway to update the Agricultural Code of Practice, scheduled for publication in 2026.

The below tables set out the farm fatalities from 2021 to 2025 and the reasons for these incidents.

Table 1: Fatal Farming Fatalities 2021-2025 (inclusive)