Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Before I speak about the issue I am raising I want to say that I agree with Senator Kyne concerning the need for a discussion on CAMHS. This morning I tabled a Commencement matter specifically on CAMHS. One of the difficulties is the Eircode lottery.However, it is worth noting that we now have a mental health budget of almost €1.3 billion. Much credit must go to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for her success in that regard. I certainly look forward to that discussion.

In the context of yesterday's budget, one of the very specific line items that was mentioned with regard to funding for local government had regard to investing in our fire services, to include investment in new fire stations. It is to be hoped that the difficulties we have seen around the recruitment and retention of retained firefighters will be resolved as soon as possible. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is deeply committed to resolving this issue and investing in our fire services but I ask the Leader whether we could get an update on the question of recruitment and retention in the retained fire services and an outline of the greater investment plan for fire stations around the country. There has been a lot of good news as regards investment on the infrastructure side but we also need to address the very legitimate concerns of those who put their lives at risk to ensure our communities are safe.