Mr. Aidan Dillon:

The role of the Civil Defence is as second-line support to the principal response agencies. In the case of fires, the fire service does the main firefighting. The Civil Defence does not engage in front-line firefighting. There is an exemption for gorse fires in Donegal, where the Civil Defence helps. Usually, the retained firefighters go in. As these gorse fires can go on for several days, the retained firefighters basically need a break. Civil Defence will then keep up the efforts, but it is very much in support of the front-line fire service. We offer other services that are very helpful to the fire service. Our drone capability is very useful, particularly in gorse and wild land fires. We have people who are trained to pump water and we have welfare teams that go out and feed fire crews to keep them going. Even firefighters need to be fed. That is our role in firefighting.