Mr. Paul Lemass:

I welcome the Deputy’s characterisation as the outworking of the report. The report very much sets a blueprint of where we need to get to. It also underlines existing good practice. Many of the measures in the report are happening. We want to document and endorse them through the report. In my opening statement, I referred to the group that has been set up to take this forward as part of the subgroup. There is a significant work in progress.

The report deals in detail with buildings over six storeys and multi-occupancy social housing but it goes way beyond that. The terms of reference referred to identifying and considering urgent issues of fire safety in Ireland in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire. They also referred to appraising existing arrangements for fire safety and preparing a report thereon for the Minister. If one looks at the report, we have embraced those second terms of reference actively and we address a range of issues, not just those associated with high rise buildings.

On the fourth point which Ms Orla Hegarty identified regarding the State authorities and resourcing, during the downturn, local authorities shed staff in many areas. The total of 37,000 whole-time equivalents was reduced to 27,000, which was a significant retrenchment. In all of that time, the one area that was ring-fenced was the fire service and the capacity to respond operationally to fires. When everyone was taking pain, fire services were not cut. That is a fair reflection of the priority that has been given to that area. It has not suffered from the retrenchment in the ways other sectors have. It is an important point in the context of adequately resourcing State agencies.