Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will bring Deputy Maloney's comments to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Hogan. A lot of progress is being made in responding to fires. The number of fire incidents is being driven down consistently year on year. While every death is obviously one too many, the provisional death toll for 2012 is 28, which is the lowest annual figure for fire related deaths for four decades.

I must give full credit to communities themselves, as well as everybody involved in fire safety and fire services, for the work and changes that have brought about this consistent reduction in Ireland's fire death rate to a figure of approximately six fire fatalities per million of population. Achieving this level of community safety places Ireland in the top international league for fire safety. The challenge for all involved now is to sustain this high level of safety.

I repeat that I will bring the Deputy's views to the attention of the Minister concerned.

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