Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last night I witnessed first-hand the devastating effects of a fire in a high-rise building in Ballymun. I also witnessed the courage of the emergency services, the Dublin Fire Brigade, gardaí and Dublin City Council in responding to the fire. We owe them our deepest gratitude for the courage and fortitude they demonstrated last night. The staff in the building should be thanked for the role they played in helping evacuate the almost 200 people in that building. However, we now need answers to a number of important questions.

How could a fire spread so quickly from floor to floor and apartment to apartment? How did the fire spread not just to apartments above the source of the fire but also to apartments below the source? Why did the fireproofing methods employed in the building not contain the fire to a better extent? What triggered the fire and how was the alarm raised? Were alarms and smoke detectors working on every floor and was every apartment checked? Is it the case that the fire brigade ladder could not reach the higher floors, as seemed to be evident if one was there? There is a serious question about getting proper ladders to reach higher floors. It must be addressed.

People will say it is too early for answers and the Minister will probably say the same thing. These questions must be answered, especially when we consider there are even higher skyscrapers around the city, with more being built. We cannot have a fire service that is under-resourced. There are serious problems with recruitment in the fire service and the equipment being used. This has been raised a number of times. Attempts to remove the ambulance service from the fire brigade have been ongoing for a number of years and it is totally unacceptable. Everybody knows that the first people responding are the ambulance service personnel in the fire brigade. They are always on hand.

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