Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Long before the media brought us the visual impacts of tragedies on our screens, it was understood that firefighters are cut above. I am struck by a memory of when I was very small in school. We visited a fire station and were told that the most important thing you could do in a fire was to get out and stay out. The people of whom we are speaking here this evening actually run into burning buildings. Their job is to protect us and to rescue us. We rely on them when we are at our most vulnerable.

Dublin firefighters have given notice of their intention to ballot for industrial action over staff shortages because their safety and that of their colleagues and the members of the public they serve has been compromised by the failure to deal with issues and concerns raised. The service is currently operating below agreed safe staffing levels and there is an over-reliance on overtime to reach daily staffing levels. I know from speaking regularly with the fire service in my constituency of Longford-Westmeath that Dublin Fire Brigade is not alone. Panels cannot be filled, let alone posts. People are leaving. Some are actually leaving the country. These retained firefighters talk not only of the stressful nature of the job that they do, which they signed up to do, which they love and which they want to do, they also speak about the negative impact that it has on their families, their children, their partners and their spouses. They speak of their inability to take holidays or to give a commitment to just simply be there as part of the because of that same over-reliance on overtime. However, they do it. They do it willingly to support each other because that is the nature of the job.

Firefighters and communities deserve much better than the massaging of figures and statistics. What I hear from firefighters is that they do not feel supported. They feel that their role is not being valued and that overtime, the service and they themselves are purposely being downgraded because there is an increase in reliance on voluntary responders and a lack of appropriate training. They simply do not feel like they are being listened to or that their concerns are being addressed.

The fact that many employed in our fire services are not given the tools, the support or the proper working conditions required to perform their duties is farcical. Dublin firefighters are considering strike action to improve the safety of the service. Others may well follow suit. Our firefighters across the country, both retained and full-time, are willing to do this vital work. Is the Minister willing to properly resource them to do it?

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