Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise the 2013 report published by the Government and entitled Keeping Communities Safe - A Framework for Fire Safety in Ireland. There are 2,065 retained firefighters operating out of 197 stations across the State and there is a problem in relation to staffing. I have raised this before because there needs to be a sense of urgency around this. In May 2021, the management board of the National Directorate of Fire and Emergency Management was mandated to set up a review of the model of retained fire services. That is still dragging on. We are nearly a year into that. A private company was procured to do it. The last reply I got on it stated that the expectation of the project team is that the final report would be submitted to the management board of the national directorate by the end of the year. For God's sake, it is a year and a half. There is a staffing issue in smaller stations in outlying areas like Rathdowney, Stradbally, Mountmellick, and Abbeyleix.

See this speech in context