Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "recognises that:

— Retained Firefighters are highly committed frontline responders providing an exceptional service within their communities;

— Retained Firefighters live and work within close proximity of their fire station, which provides operational cover and availability of fire appliances, and this model requires a firefighter to have a high level of availability to attend emergencies and can impact on work/life balance;

— Retained Firefighters are trained to the same level as full-time firefighters and deal with the same range of emergency scenarios, and for the purposes of both health and safety and to ensure training is kept up to date, Retained Firefighters train on a regular basis throughout the year and are paid accordingly for attending all training;

— the role of a Retained Firefighter is part-time, and was never intended to provide a full-time income; and

— significant progress has been made to date and a very strong proposal was made to the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), which included a 20 per cent increase in staffing, an element of rebalancing pay with a structured time off and flexible working arrangements, within the scope of the Building Momentum – Public Service Agreement 2021-2023;

notes that:

— the Fire Service Policy in Ireland is based on the Keeping Communities Safe framework that sets out a risk management approach to service provision, defining fire service roles, response standards and service delivery structures;

— retained fire services operate an Incident Command System supported by standard operating guidelines, with appropriate risk control measures, which underpin the highest levels of operational safety to protect fire crews responding into hazardous situations;

— it is clear from the preliminary findings of the report entitled 'Retained Fire Services in Ireland - A Review of Recruitment and Retention and the Future Sustainability of Service Delivery', that the work-life balance for Retained Firefighters needs to be addressed to make the retained fire service an attractive employment option, and this will require significant redesign of the current rostering model; and

— the current dispute has created a high-risk environment for firefighters and the public which is deeply undesirable, and that all stakeholders would benefit from utilising the agreed mechanism for dispute resolution, the Workplace Relations Commission;

acknowledges:

— that in recognition of issues experienced by retained fire services in recruitment and retention of staff, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien TD, directed the Management Board of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management to review the delivery and sustainability of the local authority 'retained' fire services, with particular emphasis on the recruitment and retention of staff;

— that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage published the report entitled 'Retained Fire Services in Ireland – A Review of Recruitment and Retention and the Future Sustainability of Service Delivery' in December 2022;

— that contained within the report were 13 recommendations aimed at improving the retained fire service delivery model to address the issues around retention and recruitment;

— that discussions on the implementation of these recommendations began in January 2023, through the Fire Services National Oversight and Implementation Group, chaired by David Begg, and that, at the request of SIPTU, negotiations regarding the two priority industrial relations issues identified, structured time off and remuneration, were moved to a third-party facilitation forum chaired by Ultan Courtney;

— that substantial progress was made between the parties in agreeing a revised composite agreement to standardise future employment terms and conditions, to include provision for greater work/life balance which would enable a Retained Firefighter to be away from their station fire-ground area for up to 20 weeks a year; and

— the commitment of the Government to setting out a clear pathway forward on outstanding issues that recognises the crucial role of Retained Firefighters in their community; and

supports Retained Firefighters and their representative negotiating body SIPTU to urgently re-engage with representative bodies, acting on behalf of local authority employers, the Local Government Management Agency, to set out a pathway to resolve the outstanding issues in dispute.".

I welcome this Private Members' motion on the retained fire services because it affords me the opportunity to bring some clarity to the current circumstances and, I hope, set a pathway forward for all stakeholders. I welcome all the firefighters from throughout the country who have made the journey to be here, as well as those who are watching the debate online. As many of them will know, I have put on record more than once my long-standing admiration for, and interest in, the work of the fire services, long before I had ministerial responsibility for the firefighting portfolio.

As other Deputies noted, our firefighters are an elite front-line service staffed by dedicated, selfless people serving their communities around the clock, every day of the year. I know from my interactions with firefighters throughout the country that the work of these brave men and women can be physically challenging and psychologically demanding. They run towards danger, not away from it. It is a privilege to live in a decent country that trains, equips and supports members who take up the public duty to help us in the dark moments when disaster occurs. It is a testament to their dedication that we enjoy that comfort.

That spirit of public service is evident in the fact that in advance of the commencement of this period of industrial action, SIPTU confirmed that retained firefighters would comply with the provisions of the 1992 code of practice for emergency disputes, and I genuinely thank the union for providing that important commitment. I acknowledge and welcome the efforts of all parties during the first week of the industrial action and especially the dedication of the retained firefighters who have served to minimise the impact on the public. Knowing firefighters as I do, I would not have expected any less from such a committed group of front-line workers.

As Minister with responsibility for the fire services, I am acutely aware that retained firefighters provide an invaluable service that is essential to our communities throughout the country. I am conscious also of the special responsibility that places on me to ensure the men and women of this service are provided for and empowered to carry out their duties. It is a responsibility I undertake with the utmost seriousness. From conversations I have had with retained firefighters, I have some for some time been acutely aware of the challenges associated with both the recruitment and the retention of fire personnel being experienced throughout the country.

It was for this reason I requested the national directorate for fire and emergency management to review the delivery and sustainability of the local retained fire services, with a specific emphasis on the recruitment and retention of staff. That report, which was alluded to earlier, was published in December 2022 and contained 13 recommendations aimed at improving the retained firefighter service delivery model and addressing the issues with recruitment and retention. I brought a memo to the Government in early January to note the issues raised in the review, along with the 13 recommendations designed to resolve many of the issues we are discussing, all of which were accepted by the Government. Recommendations to revise the service delivery model were identified as the key priority for both unions and management.

Building on that report, the LGMA and my Department were fully engaged and listened to the concerns raised on behalf of firefighters. To this end, the LGMA engaged in a series of meetings and presented a revised model for service delivery with the following key features: an increase in staff of approximately 20% to provide a minimum of 12 firefighters in all stations; structured time off; individual flexibility with regard to availability; 50 additional promotional positions; flexibility to attend calls when scheduled on leave if desired; and no reduction to the retainer payment. The proposals tabled were in the context of greater flexibility to allow retained firefighters to have opportunities, and rightly so, for more personal time to use for additional employment, family or work-life balance, as desired.

At the second plenary meeting last month, chaired by Ultan Courtney, SIPTU welcomed the revised model but clearly stated its members had an expectation of a significant increase in pay, which had not been addressed in the table of proposals. The LGMA clarified that a pay increase could not be considered outside of the current national collective public pay agreement, the Building Momentum structures. In an effort to work with SIPTU and come to an equitable agreement, the LGMA proposed some rebalancing of pay that would include a widening of the premium hours bands and additional fixed-earnings potential in the areas of pre-incident planning and home fire safety visits. Substantial progress was made between the parties during these initial talks to agree a revised composite agreement to standardise future employment terms and conditions, including provision for greater work-life balance that would enable a retained firefighter to be away from his or her station fire-ground area for up to 20 weeks a year. There is a strong foundation to build on.

I understand the key outstanding issue at dispute is the retainer payment. I want to give some context to that before trying to move it forward. All Deputies will be familiar with public service agreements and how they work, and they all know rates of pay for public sector employees are set by collective agreements. They are put in place to ensure public service pay will be managed sustainably and in a climate of industrial peace. In practice, this means that despite what I or union representatives might like to see in an ideal scenario, it is not within our gift to make an exception or operate outside of the terms of national public service pay policy. That type of selectivity would completely unravel the collective approach that has served us well and helped to share our prosperity without industrial action that would jeopardise it. We have to jump together or we will all fall separately.

There is, however, a way forward that meets firefighters' needs and protects the integrity of the collective pay process. I do not believe there is an appetite within the retained brigades, local authority employers or my Department for this action to continue indefinitely. We all want to protect our communities, keep them safe and be there to support them through times of need. It is clear the issue of the fixed element of retained firefighter remuneration needs to be addressed to meet the legitimate needs of firefighters. In good faith, I want to state as clearly and simply as possible my personal commitment to ensuring the retainer payment will be positively dealt with in the upcoming national pay talks.

I acknowledge firefighters are frustrated, but I hope they can see my bona fides in prioritising this issue and supporting them since I came into office. I directed the recent review to be carried out, fully accepted the findings and recommendations, and have discussed it at length with my Government colleagues, who have confirmed their broad support for its objectives. I will be a strong advocate for, and champion of, firefighters on the retainer issue in the upcoming collective pay talks. I am confident the retainer issue will be positively dealt with and will form a basis to ensure we can continue to attract and, importantly, retain firefighters in the service.

To move this forward and avert an escalation of the dispute that nobody wants, I call on SIPTU to re-engage with the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, to copper-fasten and secure the progress on conditions made to date and work towards finalising these issues and securing a new pay agreement in the overall national pay talks in the autumn. Furthermore, I accept the driver-mechanic role is a genuine issue for firefighters, and I have instructed my officials to review this matter with a view to reaching an agreement with SIPTU on it. As well as that, premium hours will be reviewed with a view to extending them further if this engagement can be entered into this week.

Engagement at the WRC is the route out of an industrial relations dead end. We will ensure conditions are improved, contentious reform elements eliminated, the service strengthened and pay then resolved in the national pay talks format.

This can be done quickly and without escalating the dispute further to another level that will not serve firefighters or, indeed, the public. Further escalation will only entrench positions and make it harder, not easier, to reach an agreement while placing further pressure on public protection. I am asking SIPTU to continue in the spirit of positive engagement it has shown to date and to urgently re-engage with the employer side on behalf of the retained firefighters through the established industrial relation mechanisms. We will formally write to them to convey this and will seek engagement involving the Workplace Relations Commission by the end of this week.

The right to strike is a part of the lifeblood of our democracy but compromise is the beating heart of it. We need to talk to each other and work together to move forward. I hope firefighters will meet this proposal in the spirit of reconciliation and determination in which it is offered. I hope we can continue to co-operate on building a fire service that protects communities and recognises the worth of its members.

See this speech in context