Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 1566: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he is satisfied that the fire service throughout the country is adequately resourced to be able to deal with fires in high buildings in view of recent difficulties that have been experienced. [30101/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The provision of a fire service, including specialised equipment, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities and my Department has no direct role in this matter. My Department supports the local fire authorities through the setting of general policy, the provision of capital funding, the issue of guidance to fire authorities in relation to fire prevention and operational matters and other such initiatives.

Over the past 25 years, almost €240 million has been provided to local fire authorities under the fire services capital programme for the provision of new and refurbished fire stations and the purchase of fire appliances and other equipment. At this stage, over two-thirds of our fire stations, including almost all of the busiest stations, have been replaced, we have a modern fleet of front-line fire appliances, and we have a modern emergency response communications system. In the current year almost €20 million has been allocated to the Fire Services capital programme. This allocation will be used to further modernise and update the resources available to the fire authorities.

In addition, since 2001, my Department has provided almost €4.2 billion in general purpose grants to assist the local authorities in carrying out their statutory functions, including the provision of fire services.

The Building Regulations 1997-2004 set down functional requirements for health and safety in and around high-rise buildings and Technical Guidance Document B, issued under the Building Regulations, provides guidance on how to meet these requirements. This guidance is prepared on the basis that the occupants of any part of such a building should be able to escape safely from the building in an emergency without external assistance and fire fighters should be able to enter the building without relying on external aerial appliances.