§ Lord Bleaseasked Her Majesty's Government:
What measures they propose, or may have taken, to relieve the concern of the Health and Safety Agency for Northern Ireland, stated in the Agency's Seventh Report (Chapter 2, paragraph 3) "about the inadequacy of penalties imposed by the Courts for offences under the Order" (Health and Safety at Work (NI) Order 1978); and, "particular concern continues to exist regarding the effect upon the protection of workers in the building industry as a 668WA result of pressure on costs arising from the increasing use of sub-contractors" (Chapter 2, paragraph 6); also that "the Agency foresees a situation where it will have difficulty fulfilling its functions under the Order" unless the financial resources are significantly increased (Chapter 7, paragraph 1).
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Lyell)While the fine to be imposed in any particular case must remain a matter for the courts, the maximum fine for an offence under the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 was doubled in 1984 from £1,000 to £2,000 in line with Great Britain.
Some 20 per cent. of the Health and Safety Inspectorate's resources are presently assigned to construction inspection duties; this level is kept under constant review. A system of voluntary notification has recently been introduced under which public sector clients notify the inspectorate of construction work about to be carried out on their behalf. This supplements the existing statutory obligation on contractors to provide such information and identifies a larger number of construction sites for inspection.
The staffing resources of the Health and Safety Agency for Northern Ireland were increased substan-tially in 1984–85. Staffing costs are met by the Department of Economic Development and are not reflected in the financial provision to the Agency.