Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

The Order of Business is agreed.

I extend my sincere sympathy and that of the entire House to the family and friends of the two firefighters who died yesterday while heroically tackling a blaze in Bray, County Wicklow. I join in the tributes being paid to Brian Murray and Mark O'Shaughnessy. They are, fortunately, the first firefighters to be killed in the line of duty in 35 years, but I found it very chilling to read in the newspapers this morning that the late Mr. Murray had predicted to his family that somebody would die before the end of the year unless there was a major overhaul of our fire services. As legislators and Members of the Oireachtas, we need to take this into account to ensure the necessary overhaul of the fire service occurs in the most expedient manner possible.

Five years ago, the Government held a review of the fire services and the key recommendation was the establishment of a national fire authority, but that has not happened and no action has been taken. It appears the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, for some reason, decided not to implement this recommendation. It is also chilling that the Stardust tribunal made the same recommendation and it is disgraceful that no action has been taken to implement it, given the service firefighters provide. I call on the Minister to come to the House to discuss the matter.

The Chief Fire Officers Association warned the Government in 2001 that the service needed considerable development. My constituency of Dublin Mid-West is a good example of the situation, where Lucan, a town with a population of more than 50,000, has no dedicated fire station. This is a real emerging issue as there are new communities and centres of large population without their own dedicated fire stations. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to address the issue in the House. He should let us know what plans exist for a national policy. At present the local authorities decide on local services, which means that we do not get the coverage needed in our rapidly expanding communities.