John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming before our committee. The praise goes without saying, as I stated back in October when we had them in for prelegislative scrutiny. I want to drill down into a few specifics. The volunteers do phenomenal work but there seems to be a little bit of confusion around the numbers. It is not confusion but it is not apparent what the establishment number should be, whether it is set by local authorities or where it comes from. The Towards 2030 document, published in 2020, talks about approximately 3,500 volunteers. A Civil Defence newsletter that came out in 2021 referred to 3,072 active volunteers. In the briefing notes we got and the witnesses' own documents it states that currently there are 2,451 volunteers in the Civil Defence. It states that the overall total required number is determined by each local authority. In 2020 it was 2,857. I am not sure what method is in place for recording the number of active volunteers. Is it solely down to each local authority to determine what the establishment number should be or is there an overall national figure which we seek to achieve?

It was said that Covid had a negative impact on recruitment and retention of volunteers. Have things picked up since then? Who is responsible for recruitment and bringing through the volunteers? Is it down to each local unit or is there a national campaign around recruitment? Could one of our guests talk us through that process? Speaking to people locally, they want to get involved. We have a proud tradition in Ireland of volunteering. I am not sure whether becoming a volunteer is easy to navigate or whether there is a high level of awareness of the route to becoming a volunteer within the Civil Defence. Is there a campaign planned or has there been any recent campaigns around recruitment? On the assistant Civil Defence officers, ACDOs, I note that 22 units have now appointed ACDOs, which is welcome. There are 28 Civil Defence units. Would I be right in saying there are still six units without an ACDO? What is the rationale around that? I would see it as a huge additional asset to have someone in that position. Is there a process ongoing in that regard?

Senator Craughwell talked about overlap of duties and responsibilities. I remember a time when my local Civil Defence used to fight fires. I am not sure whether that is still the case or is solely the remit of the fire service, be it a retained or full-time service. I am not sure where things are in that regard. Members of the Civil Defence tell me about search and rescue operations and in some horrific cases the retrieval of victims' bodies. Is a counselling service provided to volunteers? That is a critical part particularly in dealing with trauma coming from horrific situations like that.

I want to touch on collaboration with local authorities and fire services, particularly around situations like gorse fires which are becoming more problematic with climate change and drier, warmer summers. There is a growing threat in rural Ireland. What kind of role does Civil Defence play in all of that? I know local authorities fund Civil Defence as does central government. I was a member of the local authority in Wicklow for a number of years. There was not massive levels of collaboration there between councillors and Civil Defence officers or anything like that. Is there scope for further collaboration? Local councillors are often the eyes and ears on the ground. There should be a greater role for that collaboration as local councillors are the ones who agree and set budgets every year and as Civil Defence is depending on local authority budgets as well.