Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

I, too, want to extend my profound sympathy to the families and colleagues of Mr. Brian Murray and Mr. Mark O'Shaughnessy on the terrible tragedy that befell both those brave men, and to the members of the full-time and retained fire service across the country.

I compliment my colleague, the Labour Party leader, Deputy Eamon Gilmore as well as Deputies Ciarán Lynch and Liz McManus for bringing this most important Private Members' motion before the Dáil. The motion is essentially seeking two things, namely, the establishment of a national fire authority and full-time fire services in areas of high population such as Bray. To a large extent these two issues are interlinked, but the national fire authority comes first because it will facilitate the effective development of the fire services. As regards the establishment of the national authority, in his speech last night, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley, stated that there were a number of differing views on the merits of a fire authority. It would have helped the debate, I believe, had the Minister shared these differing views with the House, but effectively this major issue was side-stepped. The Minister of State, Deputy Tony Killeen did not mention the national fire service at all in his speech.

The final Farrell Grant Sparks report, Review of Fire Safety and Fire Services in Ireland, which was issued in January 2002, contained a recommendation on the setting up of a national fire authority. Just prior to the general election in 2002, on 10 May, a letter issued on behalf of the Taoiseach stating: "Fianna Fáil believes that the report's recommendations constitute a balanced package of measures, which must be implemented without cherrypicking." In May 2004, the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Martin Cullen, stated his belief in the need for a national fire authority that "provides leadership and direction and delivers an effective national response which local authorities working on their own cannot bring about". Deputy Cullen stated he would bring firm proposals to Cabinet seeking the establishment of a new national fire authority. This authority would be the over-arching body for fire services in Ireland.

In December 2004 I tabled a Dáil question to the new Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Dick Roche, asking him whether the proportion of the €1 million set aside by his predecessor for setting up the national fire authority had been spent in 2004. He informed me that other than the €19 million provided for fire service capital projects, no other money had been spent in 2004 on the implementation of the review. Also on that date, I asked when the Minister intended to set up the national fire authority, but I got no direct answer to that question. Again, when I asked the Minister in January 2007, about the proposals he had on setting up the national fire authority, he replied that his priority under the fire services change programme was not to pursue further institutional change at this time, but to use available resources to bring about direct improvements in these key areas.

This is not a time for scoring political points, as other Members have pointed out. The Minister, Deputy Gormley, said last night that the establishment of a national fire authority was considered prior to the launch of the changed programme and since the Bray tragedy has again been the subject of debate. There is a real need, I believe, for a national fire authority. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has the power in this area, but responsibility rests with the local authorities. The local authorities are at all times in the front line of fire services and any tragedies that may occur are disastrous. The Department also controls the funding for all capital projects. I understand some fire services still purchase secondhand vehicles, which have had a full life in the UK as frontline vehicles, just to keep their service operating.

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