Vol. 532 No. 3
124 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the reason he has not made it compulsory for each local authority to have in place a permanent full-time safety officer with a primary qualification in health and safety. [7256/01]
125 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of permanent posts in local authorities which have been approved for full-time safety officers who have no other responsibilities. [7257/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 124 and 125 together.
It is a matter for individual local authorities to determine how to fulfil their obligations in relation to health and safety and I have no function in the matter. There is no national grade of safety officer; the role is assigned to appropriate offices in each local authority. Therefore, the statistical information collected by my Department does not provide the information requested by the Deputy.
