James Bannon (Fine Gael)

As we all know, this legislation came about as a result of the Hamilton report. It relates to the independence of positions and accountability within a local authority. The chief fire officer is professionally trained for the specific purpose of his or her job and nobody should be in a position to overrule him as his decision relating to the safety of people is paramount. He should have sufficient power and should not have to go back to the manager or other officials within the structure. If he sees that there is a risk to the safety of people at an event he should be able to close the premises on the spot. It is important that we strengthen the legislation to ensure the catastrophes we have seen in the past never happen again. I tabled this amendment to strengthen the legislation and perhaps the Minister of State will consider including it.