John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister did not say whether he will intervene. What is unusual about this proposed strike is that it is not over pay or conditions. Dublin Fire Brigade is as traditional to Dublin as Brennan's bread. It is part of the fabric of the Dublin area.

The Minister mentioned the HIQA report. There was opposition to that plan from the city councillors and firefighters, and a consultative forum which involved council management and union representatives was established in March 2015. That forum commissioned an expert panel to make recommendations on governance, funding, call taking and despatch. It recommended not that the two call and despatch services amalgamate but rather that an efficient technological system be put in place. However, council management did not accept that report and left the forum the following January. According to the council's minutes of that meeting, the assistant manager said the forum had been set up to reach agreement on the proposal to centralise call taking, which was not the case. To transfer the 100,000 calls handled annually by the fire brigade to another call centre would jeopardise public safety. It would detrimentally affect the safe delivery of the fire-based emergency medical service, EMS, model, for which it is internationally famous.

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