David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will come back to two critical issues, response time and delivery of services in Dublin. There are particular problems with response times in the south east. I met Mr. Morton and some of his colleagues and senior management in the past about that region. Before I ask about that, I will return to the issue of delivery of services and governance in Dublin. We talked about an alternative model. A working group is in place and Ministers are working on the issue. Mr. Morton mentioned that there are thorny issues which have probably impeded a quicker decision being made on this. I put it to him that those thorny issues are that we have two organisations that potentially have different views. Can we assume there is a difference of opinion between the NAS and Dublin Fire Brigade as regards what might be the best model for Dublin or are they and their representative organisations on the same page? This has been going on for a long time. I have met senior staff in the Dublin Fire Brigade service who I imagine meet all politicians and who say there are differences of opinion. Is part of the problem that the two organisations have different views?

When I look at the delta response times for Dublin for 2022 and compare them with other parts of the State - it was not only for December, there were particular circumstances in December - the figures show that 19% of delta calls were responded to within the 19-minute target. I will compare that with other regions. The national figure is 30%.

It was 33% in north Leinster, 28% in the south, 36% in the west and only 19% in Dublin. In November, it was 27% in Dublin but 48% in north Leinster, 38% in the south and 45% in the west. I could go through each month but I will not. My point is that those delta response times in Dublin are way behind other areas. Will Mr. Morton outline why he believes that is the case? When he mentioned "thorny issues" that impeded a decision being made, is that because there are different views within the two organisations?