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

We are talking the retained firefighters and their families for granted. The Government needs to put a realistic offer on the table. The two counties I represent, namely, Laois and Offaly, are completely dependent on retained firefighters. I met delegates yesterday from all the stations in the county and they outlined the crisis. This is not just the crisis of the firefighters but the crisis that exists in trying to get people into the service and keep people in it. They expressed enormous frustration at the lack of progress.

I addressed the Minister on this subject last year, as did some of my colleagues. We outlined the situation we were facing to the Minister at the time and said that matters were going to escalate. The report has been out for more than six months. The Minister accepts all of its contents and the recommendations. So do we and so do the firefighters. Therefore, let us do it. It is not good enough for the buck to passed around. The retained firefighter model as constructed is no longer sustainable. On top of the recruitment crisis, the report found that 60% of the retained staff are considering leaving within the next two years. In some fire stations in Laois-Offaly, the numbers are down to five members and this is compromising staff safety.

A realistic offer must be put on the table by the Government and the LGMA to avert this action from justifiably escalating further. If we are going to attract new people into the service, we have to deal with retention. It is impossible to recruit people as it is and we are asking people to be on call 24-7, 340 days of the year. I heard the Taoiseach tell my party leader earlier that staff numbers will be increased by 20%. They will not be, because we will not be able to get people. There are posters outside some of the stations in Laois trying to recruit people and the authorities cannot get people. People will not be got, it is as simple as that. The simple facts are the Government must deal with this issue. It cannot keep kicking the ball around on this one and passing the buck.

Some of my friends are in the fire service and they have missed communions. I know of a member who was at a meal following his child's communion when his bleeper went off. He is in a station where there are five. Up he had to get with the suit on him so he could tog out to go fight a fire. That is not good enough, because they cannot get time off. I am trying to impress on the Minister that he will not be able to get the people because of the terms and conditions in place. It is important there are proper rosters and proper pay and conditions put on the table. The last thing I will say is about going outside pay agreements. Will the Government stop talking about that, for God's sake? A senior civil servant got a rise of €80,000. What pay agreement does that comply with? How does that work? I have never had that explained to me in this House or anywhere else. Other senior civil servants are lining up for it. If they can get it, surely to God we can do something for the people who are on 90 cent an hour and look after them. We need to do it and it needs to be done soon.

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