John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response which clearly outlines all the issues and problems we have. Fire services are the responsibility of local authorities as opposed to a national fire authority. We need one body to implement policy and address the needs of an area based on risk.

I outlined all the difficulties with the fire service in Bray. These problems did not emerge in 2018 but go right back to 2005 when firefighters in the town took it upon themselves to walk out of the station because of manning levels. The number of firefighters was low at that stage and 14 years later, here we are with the same problems, issues and concerns. Nobody is questioning the skills, training and expertise of the firefighters. It is the State that is failing by not putting in place what is needed. We need a national fire authority. Retained fire services might have been suitable in rural areas 30 or 40 years ago but the Bray fire station was built in the 1980s to accommodate a full-time fire service.

It was seen as a need back then. The population in Bray has greatly increased since that time and is due to increase even further with more risk of dangerous buildings, high-rise buildings and nursing homes, as I outlined.

We need a full-time fire service in the area because of the challenges that retained firefighters must endure daily to get to the station. When they are in their workplace or home and the alert goes off in their pockets, they have to battle through congested traffic in their own cars and they are not allowed put on sirens or flashing lights to get to the station. They face massive challenges. There are also the restrictions that they must live and work within a five-minute radius of the fire station. These are the reasons that new recruits cannot be retained. It is why there were retirements last year and there will continue to be retirements because of the pressures and constraints faced by recruits and existing firefighters.

The State must live up to its responsibilities and implement the key recommendations of the Farrell Grant Sparks report of 2002, including the establishment of a national fire authority, removing the need for the local authority to come up with the more than €1 million needed to establish a full-time fire service in Bray. That needs to be based on risk and it can be brought forward only through a national fire authority. It is time to get serious or we will be dealing with more tragedies.

See this speech in context