Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

The provision of fire services in local authority areas, including the establishment and maintenance of fire brigades, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of premises is a statutory function of the individual fire authorities under section 10 of the Fire Services Act 1981 and 2003.

Offaly County Council has adopted fire cover standards as part of its statutorily required fire and emergency operations plan, and requests for assistance are responded to promptly and in accordance with those standards from fire stations in the larger towns of the county. No part of County Offaly is without fire service cover.

I understand that factors which influenced the decision to stand down Daingean, Banagher and Kilcormac fire stations recently include issues relating to the provision of training for staff in less busy fire stations, and the substantial fixed overhead costs associated with running fire stations. I emphasise that it is through community fire safety - by ensuring that there are working smoke alarms in all dwellings - that we can prevent needless loss of life through fire.

On the recent wild land fires in County Offaly, I understand that bog fires broke out in a number of locations, and strong winds led to a rapid spread of the fires. Up to 450 Bord na Móna staff using bulldozers assisted the County Offaly fire service in controlling the fires. The County Offaly fire service also deployed up to six units to deal with a bog fire in Ferbane. The non-availability of the stations in Daingean, Kilcormac and Banagher did not impinge on the speed or effectiveness of the fire service response.

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