Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I thank the office of the Ceann Comhairle for including this item for debate. Everyone inside and outside the House appreciates the valuable work firefighters carry out in our communities. There is no disagreement about this. It is worth noting and acknowledging that the majority of firefighters are part time. The principal points on which I wish to focus relate to the Keeping Communities Safe document published in October, and the policy of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government on the fire service. The policy document proposes reducing the number of national divisions from 34 to 21, which is a substantial change. Fire service personnel are of the view that serious problems emanate from the report and the policy. They are concerned that the reduction in front-line numbers will endanger public safety. In many communities people are reluctant to ring a fire station because of the continuing myth they will be charged an astronomical amount of money. This is not the truth. According to the firefighters to whom I have spoken, many people first telephone the Garda Síochána and not the fire service about a fire because of this concern about the cost.

Fire service personnel are also concerned about the lack of consultation about the document. They claim efforts have been made to discuss the policy but without success. They claim that of the more than 20 items they have raised they have received comprehensive replies to only two. These people have a legitimate argument to make. They believe there should be a rethink about the policy and that the Department should engage more fully with them. Given the nature of how our society has changed, and the number of people living in apartments, firefighters should not have to go on strike over an issue such as this. There should be greater consultation to try to get the matter resolved before it reaches the stage where people are on strike.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Maloney for raising this matter which I will take on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Hogan. The Minister is responsible for national policy on fire safety and fire services. Recently, he published two policy documents, Keeping Communities Safe, and, on 7 February, CAMP - the Next Generation. Both documents were prepared by the Department's national directorate for fire and emergency management through a collaborative process which included - I stress this point - consultation with stakeholders.

I am more than happy to clarify that there is no dispute between firefighters and the Department. The Department is not an employer of firefighters and any issues which arise between firefighters and the local authorities which are their employers are dealt with through established industrial relations processes and systems.

I can confirm that, as a recognised representative body for firefighters, SIPTU has five members on the national directorate's consultative committee, which is a forum where views can be articulated on the directorate's work programme. SIPTU was one of the groups which provided comment during the consultation process, and bilateral meetings were held last autumn to further establish its views on specific issues. The Department also corresponded with the relevant SIPTU officials, and provided them with draft texts and samples of supporting documents. It is a matter of regret that SIPTU representatives indicated they were withdrawing from the consultative committee at its last meeting in December 2012. However, while no stakeholder group can have a veto on policy formulation, the Department has corresponded with SIPTU indicating that, in addition to the consultative committee forum, the bilateral meeting process is available if it wishes to discuss aspects of the national directorate's work.

I assure the Deputy that should matters arise at the implementation stage which could be perceived as affecting the terms and-or conditions of employment of fire service personnel, these will be dealt with through appropriate established industrial relations channels with recognised staff representative organisations at either national or local level as appropriate.

Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I appreciate the positive tone at the end of the Minister of State's contribution. I hope, given that two parties are involved in this, namely, the local authorities and the firefighters represented by SIPTU, that there will be a positive outcome. I also appreciate what the Minister of State said at the beginning of his contribution, that the negotiations are not between SIPTU and the Department but between SIPTU and the local authorities. On the basis of the tone of the conclusion of the Minister of State's response I hope there will be further engagement on the issue. Part-time firefighters, or retained staff, make up the bulk of the firefighters we have in the jurisdiction. As I stated at the beginning, it should not reach a stage where members are balloted and we are looking at the threat of industrial action.

Tallaght fire station, in my constituency, is one of the busiest in the entire country. It covers not only a wide area of south Dublin, including parts of the city, but also Wicklow and parts of Kildare. At long last, there have been improvements to the station after many broken promises. I am conscious that a group of firefighters like that do an excellent job. It is to be hoped that it will not get to the stage where such people would have to withdraw their labour.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I will bring Deputy Maloney's comments to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Hogan. A lot of progress is being made in responding to fires. The number of fire incidents is being driven down consistently year on year. While every death is obviously one too many, the provisional death toll for 2012 is 28, which is the lowest annual figure for fire related deaths for four decades.

I must give full credit to communities themselves, as well as everybody involved in fire safety and fire services, for the work and changes that have brought about this consistent reduction in Ireland's fire death rate to a figure of approximately six fire fatalities per million of population. Achieving this level of community safety places Ireland in the top international league for fire safety. The challenge for all involved now is to sustain this high level of safety.

I repeat that I will bring the Deputy's views to the attention of the Minister concerned.