Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, Deputy Paul Donnelly. The Deputy and I often have a little bit of banter about the northside and the southside of Dublin, which the Minister will know about from being a Dub. There are some things that unite us, such as the likes of the Dublin GAA team and the value that we place on Dublin Fire Brigade. I sat in on Leaders' Questions this morning and I heard the Taoiseach commend the front-line workers that will be called upon throughout the day and tonight during Storm Barra. One of the services that will be called first tonight will be Dublin Fire Brigade. I want to thank the members of the brigade for the service that they give us and I want to wish them well in their endeavours on behalf of all of us tonight.

We expect the fire brigade to come to our aid when things are difficult and sometimes in life-threatening situations to make things safer for us all. At the moment, Dublin Fire Brigade staff do not get the same consideration in the workplace. In fact, SIPTU has written to the chief fire officer calling for a safe system of work to be provided for all of its members. It has given a notice, although I do not think it is very likely, of intention to ballot fire fighters in two weeks’ time in respect of industrial action.

In my constituency of Dublin Mid-West, the Adamstown fire station was promised nearly 20 years ago. It has still not materialised. As the Minister indicated, there are areas of high population growth that need to be looked after, such as the places like Adamstown and the Clonburris strategic development zone.

There have been serious concerns regarding staffing levels, which my colleagues have mentioned, and there have been times when appliances and fire brigades were taken off the road. Five fire trucks were taken off the road at Hallowe'en, which is the busiest time of year for firefighters. Our fire services perform an invaluable service, saving lives and protecting our communities and we know just how important the fire brigade is to our communities. Due to the Government's failure to invest, the service is understaffed and workers feel exhausted and unsafe. Our communities deserve better. Our motion will support communities and services by ensuring a fully resourced Dublin Fire Brigade.

I welcome the Minister's support for the motion. I also welcome the initial recruitment drive that he mentioned. We are all on the same page here. We all want a fully resourced fire brigade that is able to call out where and when needed. As I have said already, actions speak louder than words so let us hope there is political will behind those words.

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