Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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I am raising the issue of the need for a new fire station in Rathdowney. This has been sought for a number of years now. The current station was built to house a jeep and the small mobile pump they used to pull behind them. I do not know if the Minister of State would remember them, the old Land Rovers. Smaller towns had them and that is what the station housed. There are three vehicles there now, including two large fire tenders and one jeep. Only one of the larger vehicles and the jeep can be housed in it. It is very difficult to get the large tender in and out because it is on a narrow street and it is a very small building. I can tell the Minister of State it takes good skill. I witnessed one of the crew reversing it in recently. It took great skill to get it in and out. That slows down the response time in terms of getting out to calls.

There is a larger fire crew there now. It was down to four and five for a year or two. It is now up to nine and is due to go to 12. There will be 12 firefighters in that station but there is physically no space for them. The changing area is absolutely tiny, about 2.5 m or 3 m in each direction. It is basically a small cubicle of an area to change in. I also bring it to the Minister of State's attention that some of the firefighters are women. There are three women, including Shusha Killeen, the station officer who is doing a good job there along with the very committed staff in the station who maintain the equipment very well.

The station is serving a large area across south Laois, across nearly into Roscrea, Ballaghmore, across to Offaly, back across to north Kilkenny and all that area, back into Errill and Ballinakill and up as far as Abbeyleix. It is a huge area. There is a real problem with space in the station. They have good equipment; the system has been modernised over the years and money has been put into it. I acknowledge that the equipment has improved dramatically. They just need extra space. They have one shower. As the Minster of State can imagine, it is totally unacceptable for a large crew to come back in after a house fire or any kind of fire and have one shower between them.

There is no parking area. They have to look for parking at a business down the road and hope the little area in front of that is not already full up. Otherwise, they have to park on kerbs and on double yellow lines, so there is a real problem with that. The good news is there is a site literally around the corner from it. People can drive in and through it. It is one of those new fire stations that have been modernised and which people can drive through, like they have in other stations in County Laois. These can be put in.

It is a shovel-ready project. We do not need to draw up new plans. There are existing plans that have been used in similar towns. As I said to the Minister for housing yesterday, we should stop running to architects the whole time - we do not need to. Copy and paste; give whoever drew up the plans a bit of extra money for the royalties and get on with the plans we already have. This is a shovel-ready project. The Minister of State knows the importance of the fire service. Pay and conditions have been improved, which we all welcome. A lot of us campaigned with them to get that. I acknowledge that their equipment has improved dramatically in the past ten to 15 years. Training has improved. In Rathdowney, though, what is missing is the new fire station.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Stanley. He has highlighted well the challenges they face in Rathdowney fire station. It sounds like they have a fantastic crew and great equipment but they need a new building. The first half of my response will be focused on Stradbally. The Deputy will be wondering why the hell I am focusing on Stradbally, but I will put it in context in the second half of the response, if that is okay.

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.

Project consideration stages from a Department perspective include submission of preliminary and detailed appraisals; submission of design brief; selection of a site; application for approval in principle; appointment of design consultants; submission of a preliminary design; planning application; submission of a preliminary cost plan, detailed design and cost plans; and tender process and construction stages, with each step subject to approval from the Department. The Deputy will have known all this already.

In December 2020, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, announced the fire services capital plan for the period 2021 to 2025, with a funding allocation of €61 million. Following extensive engagement with fire authorities, a number of proposals for station works, etc., were received. The proposals were evaluated and prioritised on the basis of the area risk categorisation of the fire station, established health and safety needs, state of development of the project, value for money offered by the proposal, and the totality of requests from all authorities.

At that time, Laois County Council had indicated a new fire station at Stradbally to be its number one priority, with the replacement of Rathdowney fire station as its second priority going forward. While the Stradbally fire station project was not initially included in my Department's Fire Services Capital Programme 2021-2025; all projects in the capital programme may be reassessed annually to maximise available capital programme funding, and priority may be adjusted to bring forward projects offering best value for money and to take account the state of readiness of the projects, based on ongoing engagement with local authorities in respect of prioritisation. Subsequently, following reappraisal, approval in principle for a new fire station at Stradbally was conveyed to the council in November 2022. The council approved the tender for design consultants for the project in March 2023 and in February of this year, the council was approved to tender for the construction phase of the Stradbally fire station project. My Department officials are working with Laois County Council to progress a new Stradbally fire station in 2025. That is the situation in Stradbally. In the second half of my response, I will go on to highlight where we are in terms of Rathdowney.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for that response. I welcome the news on the Stradbally station. I raised it with his predecessor on a number of occasions in the Dáil. That is very welcome; it was badly needed. I would say to the Minister of State by way of being helpful that there is a design for Stradbally. The plan is done. It is a similar size town and a similar size area. The Minister of State can see the stages it goes through. He needs to talk to the Secretary General of the Department about this. Civil servants sometimes get bogged down in things like the appointment of design consultants and submissions of preliminary design. We can take that out straight away if we can use the same plans. Those plans can be used - copy and paste - and if the design team is looking for money for it, it will be cheaper than starting again with a blank canvas.

The Minister of State mentioned how the state of readiness is a factor. This is ready to go. The site is there, it is a brilliant site, and it needs to be prioritised. There is a new programme for 2026 to 2030. If we have to wait for that, I ask that this project be front-loaded into it. There is a huge parking area on the site where the new building will go. There is ample parking, and it provides for that drive in and drive through aspect so that people do not have to reverse fire tenders out. They just drive straight out and go. The Minister of State knows that quick responses with fire are very important. I am, therefore, asking him to front-load and push this project. I know Ministers will always have shopping lists but it did not get in the last time. I am telling the Minister of State it is ready to go. We have the site and the plan, a dedicated fire crew and great equipment, so let us get on with it. I am asking the Minister of State to go for this, get it into the next round of funding and have it front-loaded.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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I outlined Stradbally because it is now earmarked for being delivered in 2025, which very much opens the way now for Rathdowney.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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It is good news.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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In December 2024, Laois County Council submitted an updated preliminary appraisal for a proposed new fire station at Rathdowney, noting several issues with the existing station, including, as the Deputy highlighted, the accessibility of the site for responding firefighters due to its central location on a narrow street within Rathdowney, the station's limited size and poor layout and the limited welfare facilities, particularly in the context, following the August 2023 Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, agreement with retained firefighters, of the increase to 12 in optimal crew numbers at fire stations. The Deputy also made a point with regard to female firefighters and the difficulty and lack of facilities in that regard.

Laois County Council has indicated a new fire station for Rathdowney to be its number one priority project for the fire services capital programme 2026 to 2030, which I think the Deputy will accept is good news. The council has secured a new site, which I am hoping is the one the Deputy referenced, and this new site it regards as ideally situated with regard to the road network and traffic flow while retaining a central location close to the retained crews' living and working environments.

My Department will be identifying new priority fire service infrastructural projects for 2026 to 2030 in the coming months. Officials from my Department will work closely with county councils to progress their identified priority infrastructural projects within the context of the totality of requests from fire authorities countrywide for capital funding. The good news is that this is Laois County Council's new priority. We will work closely with it in identifying the need. Clearly, it is its number one need now. The Deputy has indicated and the council has indicated that a site has been identified. I totally appreciate the Deputy's point and think this copy and paste approach could serve us well in a lot of areas, not just building fire stations. I appreciate there is a design and plan done. I am not sure and cannot see right now whether that can circumvent the different terms of the different stages, but I can certainly talk to the Department about whether that will help to progress it faster.