Stardust anniversary reminder of need for corporate manslaughter legislation

Statement from Aodhán Ó Ríordáin TD
Labour Party, Dublin North Central
Tuesday, 14th February 2012

Labour Party TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has stated today that the anniversary of the Stardust tragedy is a stark reminder of the need for a Corporate Manslaughter Bill to be brought before the Oireachtas.

The Dublin North Central TD believes that our laws must be more robust in this area in order to ensure that, where death has occurred as a result of abuse of safety standards, that employers and managers would be criminally liable.

Deputy Ó Ríordáin stated: “I believe that there is an urgent need for legislation to be introduced to address the matter of corporate manslaughter. My Labour Party colleague Minister Pat Rabbitte has done excellent work on this subject, introducing a Corporate Manslaughter Bill to the House in 2001.

“Moreover, the Law Reform Commission’s Report into Corporate Killing in 2005 also called for the then Government to fill the gaps in the Statute Book and seriously address this matter. It is quite clear that existing legislation does not adequately deal with the issue of corporate manslaughter.

“Therefore, I am currently in the process of drafting a bill that would hold companies, employers and employees criminally liable for manslaughter which I plan on introducing to the House under Private Members time in the near future.”