Independent TD and General Election 2020 candidate Michael Lowry has said that farm safety would be one of his priorities if he is re-elected to the Dáil, and has called for a farm safety scheme to be introduced.
Lowry, who has served in the Dáil since 1987, argued that the issue of farm safety has not received sufficient attention in the media.
“There are many issues facing farmers at this time. The need to minimise the impact of CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] reform; the fight to get fair pricing for farm produce; calls to stop the exporting of live animals and farmers being asked to set aside land for forestry, are just a few of the problems that farmers have raised,” said a statement on behalf of the TD.
The vital issue of farm safety is one that has not received sufficient attention in the media throughout the campaign, but is one that [I am] determined to make a priority if re-elected.
The statement said that Lowry supports a proposal from the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) to implement a farm safety scheme under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS), with increased funding for health and safety equipment.
L:R: TD Michael Lowry; Imelda Walsh, North Tipperary IFA; and Michael Kennedy, North Tipperary IFA. Image source: Michael Lowry
“Farm safety should be a priority on every farm just as it is in every other business. A typical family farming situation now involves part-time farming with the day-time herding attended to by a senior farmer left to handle large suckler-bred cattle,” Lowry said, highlighting the over-representation of farmers over the age of 65 in farm fatality figures.
The Tipperary deputy also pointed to what he called the “solitary nature” of farm work, which, he argues, increases the risks of the job.
Regardless of age, farmers for the most part work alone and isolated from other people.
Some of the dangers the election hopeful highlighted were: unprotected PTO shafts; slurry agitation in enclosed or poorly ventilated areas; livestock handling; loose clothing becoming caught in machinery; and attempting to fix problems on machinery and equipment without proper tools and training.
Under the farm safety scheme that Lowry is backing, measures proposed include: installing yard lighting; installing cattle and sheep handling facilities (mobile and fixed); replacing hinged (swinging) doors with sliding or roller doors; retro-fitting of safety rails on silo walls; and re-wiring existing farm buildings.
“While the major issues raised during the election campaign are of huge importance to the future of farming in Tipperary and throughout Ireland, action must be taken to ensure that farmers are safe in their place of work,” Lowry insisted.