Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 335: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he is satisfied with the current level of fire services available in an area (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24472/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs, the provision of a premises and the making of such other provisions as it considers necessary or desirable, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the provisions of the Fire Services Act 1981. The provision of fire services to the areas referred to in the Question is, therefore, a matter for Kerry County Council.

By way of background, Kerry County Council's fire services are provided by a retained staffing system. Retained fire-fighters are employees of fire authorities, and are organised to provide a full professional fire service throughout the county, including for the communities referred to in the question. The retained fires services are appropriately trained, equipped, supervised and operate to proper procedures. The local station whose closure is referred to in the Question was a voluntary fire unit, which was outside the direct control of the fire authority. The voluntary unit in question did not have the requisite training to attend and deal safely with a variety of incident types. While it received some training, equipment and funding from the Council in the past, it did not report to and was not under the control of the Council's Fire Service. I would like to emphasise that the most effective measure to protect the lives of persons in the communities referred to, as in all communities, is to ensure that each dwelling is fitted with proper smoke alarms. I encourage all households in Kerry, as throughout the country, to ensure that this is the case.