Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to inquire if there will be an increase in the level of funding to local authorities to ensure that the current level of fire service is maintained. In addition, are there plans to bring a voluntary fire service into full-time service and retain a fire service scheme in the Carlow fire service?

Virtually every town in Ireland has a local fire brigade made up of experienced first responders who are advanced first aid officers and are tied to the town, particularly when they are on call 24 hours a day or on call for the week, as they cover the fire and rescue call-outs.

In Carlow fire service, six volunteer firefighters have been doing this in a voluntary capacity for almost four years for life-threatening ambulance-related call-outs only. That is important because these are ambulance-related callouts only, even during the Covid-19 crisis. As firefighters they carry defibrillators, advanced airway management and trauma bags, in which are carried all of this equipment. It makes perfect sense to avail of this training, experience, knowledge and equipment in attending life-threatening medical emergencies within minutes of being alerted on their pagers, until the overstretched National Ambulance Service Ireland, NASI, arrive at the scene. These crews must be brought into the fire service properly to ensure that they are paid properly to provide what are life-saving services.

There are approximately 1,800 retained firefighters throughout the 220 fire stations covering the Republic of Ireland. Central Government, the HSE and local government need to work together on a plan to make better use of their existing resources. A great deal can be achieved if heads work together. Life is everything and nothing else matters. One cannot put a price on a life.

I have raised the pressure that the National Ambulance Service Ireland is under with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, and with An Taoiseach and have also raised this issue in the House several times. I compliment our ambulance paramedics in Carlow on the work they do. They are worked very hard and I will say again that they are in a building that is not fit-for-purpose. I understand that the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, is coming shortly to Carlow to visit this facility and we all know the pressures that the ambulance paramedics are under.

I welcome that in some counties the fire service personnel can be used to assist in the cardiac arrest service agreed by the National Ambulance Service. This makes sense as it uses the existing resources. This allows trained fire service personnel to respond where life is at stake and when available to free up the ambulance service to focus their skills and expertise toward other medical emergencies.

What are the Minister of State’s plans to address sustainability of the fire service in Carlow and to address the use of these volunteers? It is important when I am speaking about volunteers to acknowledge the great work they do which we have seen over the Covid-19 period. We saw the work that the ambulance paramedics and fire services did. We have such great people in Ireland who work so hard and those are just two examples of the dedication and of the work they do outside their call of duty. Many of these officers do a great deal of work outside of their remit and it is important that we acknowledge that. The only way we can do that is to ensure that we know and understand the work that they have done and look after them. I feel that is missing and that we do not appreciate their work enough. It is very important when we have such good people on the ground working within their communities, saving lives and working together, to learn that when we all work together we will grow more and will work better. There is a duty of care on the Minister State’s Department to ensure that these workers are looked after. I thank the Minister of State and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I thank my constituency colleague for raising this issue which she has consistently done in this Chamber, as have a number of other Deputies. As she has said, there had been some counties where existing resources have been utilised.

The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Acts, 1981 and 2003. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage supports the fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding for equipment and priority infrastructural projects. The number of front-line fire service staff have been maintained at a consistent high level throughout the economic challenges of the past number of years, even at a time when staffing numbers were, of necessity, reduced in other areas of the local authorities.

The external validation group, EVG, report 2016 was the first of a new external validation process on fire risk management in Ireland arising from implementation of Keeping Communities Safe: A Framework for Fire Safety in Ireland. It reported conclusions on the four specific areas of inquiry - area risk categorisation; fire safety and fire service operations; major emergency management; and health and safety management. The report concludes with an overview of themes and issues before making some recommendations for future directions. The EVG report concluded that the available evidence provides for confidence regarding the match of fire service capability with the assessed fire risk.

A capacity review to capture lessons learned, review good practice and assess resilience of the fire services during the Covid-19 pandemic was completed in 2020. Response, Resilience and Recovery: A Review of the Impact of Covid-19 on Irish Fire Services reported many strengths and the outstanding commitment and effort of front-line teams, and made recommendations which are being implemented, which the Deputy acknowledged in her contribution.

On policy, a review of the retained fire services delivery model is currently being undertaken. The review of the model will reflect the current circumstances with the aim of ensuring its effectiveness into the future as part of the local authority. The objective is to explore issues and their impacts, diagnose the situation and propose options towards solutions which will underpin future local authority fire service provision.

Finally, the fire services capital programme forms part of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage's strategy to support the fire authorities in the development and maintenance of a quality fire-fighting and rescue service. The Department recently announced a new fire services capital programme for the period 2021-2025, with a funding allocation of €61 million. This new programme will see six new fire stations built, continued support for the construction of a further 12 new fire stations, nine fire station refurbishments as well as the allocation of 35 new fire appliances or engines.

Again, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As the Deputy has said, it is essential that we use all of the existing resources that are available to us, particularly in those life-threatening emergency situations. I hope that this response gives the Deputy some indication of our commitment towards that.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State and I am aware of his commitment and that of the senior Minister, Deputy O'Brien. My first concern is that it is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Acts. That should be addressed and all local authorities should look at this. I ask the Minister of State for a commitment on this. It is about resources and saving lives and it is something that can be done. If this can be done in some of the local authorities, it should be rolled out across all 31 of them. The Department has a role here through local authorities to ensure that they deliver and are accountable. I ask that the Minister might do this.

I welcome the review of the retained fire service and the delivery model. It is good and I know of the Minister of State's commitment here again. We all need to work together. I understand the importance of funding also but we must remember that we are dealing with lives here and with firefighters who have seen horrific crashes, fires and who have dealt with accidents which must be very traumatic. It is a training and calling. On the other side we have our ambulance paramedics who are excellent. We are so blessed with what we have. If we are not using all of our resources to the best of our ability, however, that needs to be looked at.

I cannot finish today without mentioning our own volunteers and community first responders, of whom the Minister of State will also be aware. It is important that I mention them because the communities of Carlow and Kilkenny are brilliant. We have our community first responders in Carlow, Tullow, Hacketstown, Bagenalstown who did great work during the Covid-19 period. I again emphasise that these are voluntary groups which need to be recognised. We are so lucky. We must ensure that we appreciate and look after those people who are out there day-in and day-out saving lives and doing what they can for us as a country. I thank the Minister of State again.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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To respond to the point made by the Deputy about the onset of Covid-19, the pandemic has presented challenges to the fire services in respect of the delivery of services. Our Department has monitored regular reports from the fire services in respect of the impact of the pandemic on staffing levels and the business community. In order to maximise the available capital funding programme, our Department reassesses the status of projects in the programme on an annual basis and some flexibility is normally available to advance projects that are ready and offer the best value for money, taking into account the state of readiness of projects and work generally.

The provision of fire services and its functions, including the establishment and maintenance of fire brigade, assessment of fire cover needs and provision of fire service premises, are statutory functions of the individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Act, as was stated. Our Department continues to support fire authorities through the setting of general policy, the provision of a central training programme and the issuing of guidance on operational and other matters. I agree that all resources should be deployed and the local authority should give further consideration to the matter. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and I will commit to offer our support to whatever the local authority deems appropriate within its functional area.

I agree with the Deputy wholeheartedly on the community first responders. We will be looking at a massive increase in our population in coming months with the intake of Ukrainian refugees. If that transpires as it may do, we will need to deploy all resources available to the State to try to support communities at this very critical time.