Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the motion. I am surprised that the Government has tabled a countermotion. The Minister of State must acknowledge that when people are in trouble with a house going on fire, a car crash, a fire on a ship, in a bog, in a forest or whatever, the first thing we do is dial 999 and we expect these people at the drop of a hat within two minutes to get the text and they have to be gone. They might have to leave jobs they are working on. I was talking to guys from Nenagh and I was talking to Padraig Quinn from Tuam. They say that they basically always need to be on standby.

The day has come and I see it in my own side of it. In agriculture a long time ago someone who had a new tractor or a fancy looking yoke would have a queue down the road trying to jump up on it.

Today, you nearly have to put your arms around some of those youngsters. It is a different Ireland. People want time off and they want to go places without having to be on call all the time. They want to know when they are off and when they are on. The problem is with the numbers. This is in rural Ireland. We must remember that in the bigger cities, they are full time, so they are okay, but this is in rural Ireland. It is another issue that is hitting us in rural Ireland. I refer the likes of Mountbellew, Roscommon, Elphin, Strokestown, Ballaghaderreen and Ballyhaunis. They could have to get two fire brigades because one may not be big enough to handle something.

There is another problem as well. Many people in the fire service should have an option. They could be fit and healthy but they have to retire at a certain age. Even though they have a full MOT done and they could be perfect, they are not allowed to stay on. That is one issue that should be looked at.

This is reasonable. I was speaking with the firefighters today and they are reasonable about it. They want an all-party working group to be put together to resolve these issues. Some night we or somebody in our constituencies will need them. We will dial that number and we will expect them to come straight away. Do we want to leave ourselves open? It is being flagged at the moment that there is a problem, and we know that what is coming up is serious. Do we, as politicians, want to leave ourselves exposed to a situation where they will not be able to fill the vacancies and there will not be enough cover on some night, in some place or for some person? I am thinking especially of our elderly people in the case of a house going on fire. God forbid that they would be exposed and there would be a loss of a life, because we did not put the group together, did not work with it and did not resolve the issues to make it safer to live in rural Ireland. This is what it is about.

I also ask the Minister of State that over the coming months, when there is a new county manager in Roscommon, that we look at Castlerea fire station, which has been closed. It is a fair-sized town and we have even seen problems there since the fire service went. I hope that can be addressed.

See this speech in context