Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

We are all glad at this stage that the fires that have raged across many counties are now under control. However, we acknowledge the threat that many of them can re-ignite in the short term, as some of them are still smouldering in my own county of Donegal. There is also a threat in the weeks and months ahead that these fires could take place again.

The community response to these fires has been nothing short of inspiring. Over the last week to ten days, ordinary men and women have been putting themselves in the line of fire, with the support of our fire fighters, army personnel and the Civil Defence. There has been a major community mobilisation aimed at tackling these fires.

There was real sense of emergency, with fires blazing for up to ten days. Two houses in Donegal were burned out. Some farmers' livelihoods have gone up in flames. There are miles and miles of fences that have been destroyed. Firemen and civilians were put into dangerous situations. However, there seemed to be a lack of urgency from the State. An interdepartmental group should be established on a permanent basis to deal with responses of this nature. We had such a gripe following the big freeze and the flooding problems, and now we have issues with forest fires. There needs to be an immediate interdepartmental response to events such as these, which could be made up of Departments and State agencies such as Met Éireann, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, the Department of Defence and the Department of Finance. Such an interdepartmental response would make sure that we harness the resources of the State appropriately and that we have an active rapid response unit.

I am sure the Minister saw the thousands of ordinary people out fighting fires. None of them was prepared. None of them knew the best protective clothing to wear or the best way to fight a fire. These are simple things that could have been explained to them if an interdepartmental unit was set up and published the best advice possible to ordinary citizens in these areas. I appeal to the Minister to set up such a unit. I also would like the Minister to look at the need to compensate farmers whose livelihoods have gone up in flames, particularly with farm inspections coming up.

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