ABSTRACT
The legislative situation in Ireland had for most of the twentieth century been influenced by the United Kingdom approach. After the formation of the State in 1922, Ireland inherited the UK body of legislation on health and safety and many of the administrative structures which implemented this legislation. Over the next sixty years various updates were made to legislation on a piecemeal basis. However, as late as the early 1980s, no more than 30 per cent of the workforce were covered by health and safety legislation of any kind and no mention was made of the issue of occupational stress in any part of the legislation.
