The Labour Party spokesman on enterprise, trade and employment, Mr Pat Rabbitte TD, is to table a Private Member's Bill to create a new offence of corporate manslaughter when the Dail resumes.
"The latest death of a man in a fire at the Irish ISPAT plant in Cobh highlights once again our serious death rate in industrial accidents," Mr Rabbitte said. "Last year alone work-related accidents claimed the lives of 64 people, with 26 casualties in the construction sector."
It was clearly too soon to form any judgments in relation to the ISPAT fatality, he said. He said he did "not believe that the range of offences and penalties available under health and safety legislation adequately reflect the seriousness of the issues involved".
Mr Rabbitte says his Billail resumes, would provide that a corporation could be found guilty of "corporate killing" if a management failure by the corporation was a cause of death. "I believe that it is only when senior executives face the prospect of jail for negligence that acceptable safety standards will be reached."