Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Like others I pay tribute in particular to Dublin Fire Brigade and all the other emergency services, including the Garda and Dublin City Council workers. As a result of their efforts, I am thankful that last night's disastrous fire brought no fatalities and, as far as we know so far, no casualties. I find it ironic that as Dublin Fire Brigade is rightly being showered with congratulations about this, it has had a running battle with the city manager for 15 years that has the aim of basically bringing down the standard of employment of firemen, who are experts in the safety of the people of Dublin and other citizens. It also concerns the proposed disbandment of the ambulance service.

Many trendy commentators constantly tell us that Dublin must go up and become high-rise and compact. At the same time we know what happened year after year, particularly during the Celtic tiger. There is the saying that doctors bury their mistakes but developers and contractors could also bury their mistakes in not meeting required fire standards. It is the reality. Everybody knows in this city that where people live in high-rises - I am referring to buildings with four to six storeys, never mind what the trendy people in government want for Dublin, which is 12 to 20 storeys - we are not getting full information about levels of fire safety and conditions and risks in building. There is a separate problem that the Minister will have to address. Last year in my constituency there was a disastrous fire in a block on a Saturday afternoon. I am thankful nobody was injured but the residents will now have to pay to bring the rebuilt buildings up to safety standards.

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