Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to bring up the issue of John Molloy, whom I met with Councillor Pearse McGeough earlier today. John Molloy is the retained station officer in Dunleer fire station and, on 24 May, he turns 60 and will be forced to retire. The crew at Dunleer is at its minimum of five. There is no one who can replace him as fire station officer, so we are in a real predicament. Obviously, it has an impact on him. We know there is an ongoing interdepartmental review on this issue but we need some sort of stopgap solution to this. I will be honest, I have requested a Topical Issue debate on this and hope I will be selected for that. Given its particular importance, both for Mr. Molloy and the wider fire service in Louth and Dunleer, I ask that the Taoiseach would involve himself in trying to bring about a solution. There is an unfairness in the sense that assistant chiefs can be there until they are 70.

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