Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

While I appreciate that Senator Bannon is trying to strengthen the legislation, we have already done this by incorporating section 29(c) which inserts a new subsection (5) in section 18 of the Fire Service Act. We have now given authority to the authorised officer – who could be the chief fire officer, assistant fire officer or senior officer – to issue a closure notice. Depending on the circumstances, the officer can issue an oral or written warning or, in extreme cases, issue a closure notice and if conditions are such, extreme action must be taken. We have incorporated this into the Bill and have strengthened it. To do anything other than this would weaken the Bill somewhat.