Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am glad of the opportunity publicly to welcome this Bill. It contains many measures which are long overdue and which were, unfortunately, overlooked or ignored for many years by previous Administrations. One area of the Bill deals specifically with jobseeker's payments to retained firefighters. This is a subject of particular interest to me. It has been raised with me on many occasions and with other colleagues in the House. County Louth, including places like Carlingford, was one of the areas where many retained firefighters did not receive payments to which, I believe, they were justly entitled. It is an indictment of the state of our social protection system under previous administrations that this situation was allowed to develop in the first place. In one part of the country, retained firefighters received their payments without any fuss, while elsewhere they were effectively blocked as the regime was interpreted differently depending on what rules were applied by deciding officers.

Nobody in this House needs to be reminded of the important role carried out by retained firefighters across the country. Their function is essential, particularly in rural areas, and as back-up to full-time staff in urban stations such as those in Drogheda and Dundalk in my constituency. We should not be putting obstacles in the way of them fulfilling their duties.

When I first raised this issue with the Minister for Social Protection, following my election to the Dáil, she was very sympathetic to the plight of retained firefighters. She grasped straight away the importance of correcting this particular anomaly. I am glad that we now have what could be described as a sensible and fair solution, whereby retained firefighters can receive jobseeker's payment subject of course to the normal requirements. They will no longer be disadvantaged as a result of the fact that they are required to reside in close proximity to their stations, which would limit alternative employment opportunities.

There is no doubting their desire and availability for full-time employment but if this situation had not been resolved in the context of this legislation, we could have ended up with the ludicrous situation of telling dedicated firefighters that they should sit at home rather than serve their communities because they would not be adequately and justly rewarded for doing so. To continue to operate such an unclear system at the mercy of deciding officers was unjust, unfair and very frustrating. This measure allows the State to support the retained firefighters who are as well trained and committed to the fire service as the full-time colleagues beside whom they serve. There is no doubting that. In the absence of such a measure contained in this Bill, we could have feasibly ended up with a situation where retained firefighters denied access to appropriate social welfare supports could have exited the service entirely having had thousands of euro of taxpayers' money spent on their training. This would have been a complete waste of their time and taxpayers' money.

I pay tribute to the Minister and the determined way she has addressed this issue and the departmental staff who have dedicated significant time to assisting the Minister to resolve this issue. This provision of the Bill is a very positive development and I congratulate the Minister, Department and this House, which I hope will see fit to support this aspect of the Bill in supporting rural communities in particular which very much depend on the retained firefighters and the dedicated service they provide.

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