Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I welcome Cara Dermody, her mother, Noelle, her principal teacher, Brid Quinlivan, and her teacher, Andrea Mee from Ardfinnan National School. I compliment Cara on doing her leaving certificate mathematics examinations last Friday and on Monday.

To the Minister, I say that I too was out with the firemen. Will he please give us an outline today of what he is going to do on Tuesday when the mass resignations and all-out strike happen? I will tell the Minister what the problem is.

The Minister spoke about engagement, but the LGMA is not engaging. It states it does not have the money from Government. It would cost €50 million to sort this out for the firemen. There are gorse, mountain or forest fires in this weather. In any situation, they save us. They are our heroes. Their children are out there with them today, pleading for a resolution. We had a wedding last weekend. They cannot go to weddings because they are on call. Would the Minister like to be on call 24-7 with a pager? He would not. We need to respect them for what they do and not voice platitudes. The problem is that there is a full-time fire service in Dublin and the Government does not care about the rest of the country, like in many other areas. Please support these gallant men and women because they deserve it.

See this speech in context