John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

It will not take four minutes. I thank the Minister of State for coming in to address this Adjournment matter. It relates to fire services and the new document launched recently entitled Keeping Communities Safe. I am at a loss to understand how by implementing this new document the Government can keep communities safer because the document proposes to cut the number of firemen attending emergencies, such as car accidents and chimney fires, to five per brigade. Under health and safety rules and regulations this may be considered to be unsafe given that a typical incident command team has nine present.

On numerous occasions I have called for a national fire and ambulance service. It would have the blessing of all Ministers. There was a recent incident in my neck of the woods. We have been discussing shared services. We need to establish whether shared services are simply an aspiration on the part of the Government or a principle to be implemented in all cases.

Through the blessing of the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, the chief fire officer and the chief ambulance officer for the western region agreed to co-locate an ambulance in a fire station in my home town of Ballaghaderreen, but a civil servant blocked it. Yet it is Government policy to have shared services and two Ministers were in favour of the move. It defies logic. I am looking for assurances that nothing in this document will be implemented which would put the lives of firefighters or the public at risk.

When one is asked to save money one probably discusses the matter with those in management circles and asks how they would go about saving money. In the case of Ireland, there are 30 chief fire officers, approximately 350 assistant chief fire officers and hundreds of support staff, while in Northern Ireland there is one chief fire officer, two assistants and only a dozen administrative support staff. If the Government wishes to save money in the fire services, this is where it should look. If it is good enough for one chief and two assistants to run the whole show in Northern Ireland, then having 30 chiefs and 350 or more assistant chiefs in the South is not justified. I suggest we are probably looking in the wrong direction for savings.