Mr. Seán Hogan:

I can make a detailed statement on budgets and copy the information to the Chairman. I do not have figures for 2008, but in 2009 the budget for fire services was €286 million. This figure declined to €272 million in 2010. Between 2011 and 2014 it remained level at €267 million and increased to €269 million last year. In 2016 it is projected to be €276 million. Therefore, it is increasing again, having been level for four years. The drop was entirely attributable to the general reductions in public service pay in those years. Local authorities have clearly prioritised their fire services, which is a benefit of the system. They held spending on them level at a time when general local authority expenditure had declined by 8.6%. The number of fire fighters remained the same during the same period at a time when other services were cut. I can supply tables to show this. A benefit of the local government system was that the local authorities decided to prioritise their fire services and kept money and staff in the area.

I cannot provide details of average distances, but I can provide the response times, as set out on page 26 of the report. It shows that 40% of the population are being hit within ten minutes, that 66%, or two thirds, are being hit within 15 minutes and 83% within 20 minutes. These figures increase to 92% being hit within 25 minutes and 95% within 30 minutes. I would not have been able to provide this information five years ago, but we have been able to collect these data and these are the actual response times. Local authorities have good infrastructure, with 218 fire stations which are well distributed in towns. We receive many queries and questions, but they are not generally about the response of the fire service.