Agriculture, Food and the Marine | Farm safety continues to be promoted and enhanced

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine the extent to which farm safety continues to be promoted and enhanced; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

My Department is implementing a range of measures to raise awareness of farm safety in 2024 through dedicated funding of €2.5m. They include actions to promote farm safety practices and encourage behavioural change around farm safety from a young age, and capital support to make farms safer. Some of the measures are as follows: 

• The TAMS3 Farm Safety Capital Investment Scheme provides grant aid for a wide range of farm safety related investments. ‘Health and Safety’ guidelines are included in all ‘Building Specifications’ for the construction of agricultural buildings and structures.  Additionally, all TAMS applicants are required to complete a half-day of farm safety training. 
• My Department is supporting AgriAware’s ‘Safe Farm Futures’ programme which aims to educate and raise awareness among primary school children on the importance of keeping safe on farms. This spring, over 23,000 primary pupils registered for the programme. My Department will also be supporting Agri Aware’s secondary school programme which will be delivered this autumn.
• Over 7,600 farmers are participating the Knowledge Transfer Programme which includes farm health, safety, and wellbeing as one of its priority topics.
• The Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) training, being delivered to over 17,000 farmers this year, includes a health and safety training module on livestock handling.
• All ACRES participants must complete the ACRES Training Scheme which includes farm safety training.
• My Department has partnered with the Health and Safety Authority to deliver a series of targeted media campaigns focused on a range of high-risk areas including safety around livestock and machinery safety.
• In addition, the HSA’s ‘How to Make Construction Appointments for Your Farm’ was included in the 2024 BISS packs distributed to over 127,000 farmers.

Further proposals are in the process of being finalised and will be announced in due course. My Department continues to engage with all stakeholders to improve farm safety, health and wellbeing on our farms.