Company 'could afford to pay awful lot more', says brother of victim
A €30,000 fine imposed on a waste disposal company over the death of a construction worker has been criticised as too lenient.
Thorntons' have been sanctioned by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after pleading guilty to a breach of health and safety legislation.
Jarlath O’Reilly from Maynooth in Co Kildare was driving a rolling machine owned and operated by Thorntons, when he hit the corner of a concrete slab, and accelerated into an excavated hole.
The 38-year-old was crushed when the machine overturned at the site in Killeen Road in Ballyfermot in March 2007.
His brother Jerome believes the fine is too small: "I understand that every company wants to operate and we don't want to see jobs being lost but, in this particular case, I felt that company (Thorntons) could well afford to pay an awful lot more than that," he said.
"The simple reason is that it's got to be an example for other companies that health and safety must be clear to them."
