Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I wish to acknowledge the presence in the Visitors Gallery of family members and colleagues of Brian Murray and Mark O'Shaughnessy. The timing of the motion is appropriate, given that the deceased firemen's families are determined some good will come from this tragedy. We must do our job as legislators without it becoming a political slagging match.

The Farrell Grant Sparks report is five and a half years old. The tone of the language used in the report struck me. It stated, "Our primary recommendation is that a new national authority for fire and civil protection/emergency services be established". It continued: "We believe strongly that a single unified structure under the new authority is the optimum means of achieving coherent national leadership and development for the fire safety and fire services regime".

To his credit, the then Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Noel Dempsey, put in place a structure which would have seen such a model rolled out over six months. Five and a half years on, we still have 37 fire authorities and 222 fire stations. Northern Ireland has a single fire and rescue service, divided into regional, area and district command centres. For its own reasons Northern Ireland has developed an expertise in this area but the least we can do is examine it as a possible model which would have merit here.

I acknowledge that many recommendations of the Farrell Grant Sparks report have been implemented. However, I do not believe adequate resources are provided to the fire services. Any rescue service that must analyse costs in dispatching a team is simply not working right. People in the services will claim this attitude pertains. Last week, the House debated how the recruitment embargo in the health services has affected recruitment of ambulance service personnel, despite the claim frontline services would not be affected.

I welcome the Minister's willingness to examine aspects of the services and the establishment of an authority. The report, however, claimed its primary recommendation was the establishment of this authority. In itself it will not achieve anything other than a national protocol or command system. In the context of the sentiments in his speech I ask the Minister to look at it. The amendment tabled by the Government, in particular the last part of it, puts the responsibility in its entirety back on the local authorities and is completely at odds with the Minister's statement. It ignores the Farrell Grant Sparks key recommendation and at the minimum it should be discounted. We need a completely independent investigation into this whole tragedy and the circumstances surrounding it, with the right to make recommendations that will be acted upon. As Deputy Hogan said, we have had key reports before, they were cherry-picked when it suited and key recommendations have not been implemented because it did not suit.

Unfortunately, I heard the phrase used last week in an interview with a former Minister to the effect that these were quangos. When we want to put a question down to a quango such as the National Road Safety Authority, the Energy Regulator etc., we are told it is inappropriate for this House, since these are statutory organisations in their own right. A national fire authority would have a similar mandate, to put in place the proper procedures and protocols for a world-class fire service, as outlined by the Government.

I ask the Minister, once again, to support the motion tabled by the Labour Party. I ask him again to reconsider the amendments tabled which render all the rhetoric as a joke.

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