Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The national retained firefighters service is suffering severe difficulties in the recruitment and retention of staff. The model on which the current service is operating was developed in the 1950s and is not fit for purpose in a modern working environment. I acknowledge that the Department has undertaken investment in my constituency, with a new fire station in Tuam, a contractor having been appointed for Athenry and the Loughrea fire station going to Part 8 planning. It is great to have the facilities but we also need to have retained firefighters in place so that they can man the fire stations and protect people. If we learned anything from what the retained firefighters did in Creeslough, it is important that we take this on board as a matter of urgency and sort it out.

See this speech in context