John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In February 2005, the retained firefighters in Bray fire station staged a day of protest over major concerns they had about the operation of the service in the area. They had a number of concerns, including the vetting of calls. One of the main concerns was the manning levels in the station. Bray fire station is a two-pump station, which means there should be 15 firefighters but there were only ten at that point. Two years later, on 26 September 2007, two of the firefighters who had taken part in the day of protest died in the line of duty serving the community of Bray. Sub-officer Brian Murray and firefighter Mark O'Shaughnessy died fighting a serious fire in the Little Bray area. Prior to his death, Mr. Murray had said that unless the serious issues in the fire service were addressed, lives would be lost. Little did he know that two years later he and one of his colleagues would lose their lives.

Fourteen years after the protest at Bray fire station and 12 years after the deaths of Brian Murray and Mark O'Shaughnessy, there are still very serious issues with the fire service in Wicklow. A recent response from the chief fire officer in Wicklow, Mr. Aidan Dempsey, shows that the current manning level in Bray fire station is ten firefighters, of whom two are on long-term sick leave. A service that is supposed to have 15 firefighters has only eight firefighters to provide cover for a population of nearly 40,000. In the case of an emergency call-out requiring a two-pump turnout, which Bray is supposed to provide but cannot do so owing to a lack of staff, the retained firefighter service in Greystones must be dispatched to Bray. This takes additional time and leaves the whole Greystones and KilcooIe area without a service if an emergency occurs. The management of the fire service in Wicklow is playing a dangerous game with people's lives. Lessons have clearly not been learned from the horrific events of 2007 that saw two families lose their loved ones.

There are serious issues with the operation of the retained service in Bray. New recruits cannot be retained because the station is so busy as to make it virtually impossible for a firefighter to hold down a full-time job and be on call at the same time. In addition, the housing crisis makes finding accommodation within a five-minute radius of the station, as required, is a major challenge. The population of Bray and north County Wicklow is expected to increase considerably in the next two or three years. The area also has a high number of high-risk building such as nursing homes. The only way to protect lives and address the serious problems in the fire service in Wicklow is to provide a full-time fire service in the Bray area. We have, however, a crazy situation in which 30 separate fire authorities operate in the State, each of which is managed and funded by a local authority.

Despite needing a full-time fire service, Bray does not have one because Wicklow County Council cannot afford to provide one. What will be done to immediately address the serious problem with manning levels in the fire service in Wicklow? We need a full-time fire service in the Bray area based on need and risk as opposed to what can fit into the local authority's budget. This can only be achieved when the Government implements the findings and recommendation of the 2002 Farrell Grant Sparks report to create a national fire authority. Only then will we have a properly funded fire service that does not have to rely on resources from financially stretched local authorities. When will the findings of the Farrell Grant Sparks report be implemented?

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