Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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447. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the reason the proposal for a new fire station for Graignamanagh, County Kilkenny, as part of the national fire appliance fleet, has not been considered under the fire service capital allocation fund, in view of the fact that the present building was built in the 1950s and is classified as substandard (details supplied) and should the county boundaries change, as is imminent, the catchment area served by Graignamanagh fire station will increase; if he will detail the fire stations that are currently being given priority as part of the national fire appliance fleet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2633/14]

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 and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under section 10 of the Fire Services Act 1981. My Department supports the fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding for priority infrastructural projects.

Under the 2008 fire service capital programme, a proposal by Kilkenny County Council to build a new two bay fire station in Grauigenamanagh was approved in principle. The Council was subsequently approved to prepare detailed design and tender documents in relation to the project. These have been received in my Department for consideration. Continued investment in the fire appliance fleet has been identified as one of the key national priorities for the fire services capital programme. In that context and in order to deliver cost efficiencies, a programme involving fire authorities aggregating demand and jointly procuring 17 fire appliances is now nearing completion, under which Kilkenny Fire and Rescue Service has received an allocation for a new appliance which is under construction.

Given the constraints on public finances, further support from my Department’s fire services capital programme to replace Grauigenamanagh fire station will have regard to national priorities, the totality of requests from fire authorities countrywide, Kilkenny County Council’s priorities, the extent of previous investment in Kilkenny fire service, the value for money offered by proposals and the status of existing facilities having regard to risk categorisation.

In 2013, I published a policy document titled: Keeping Communities Safe (KCS), which sets the future direction of fire services in Ireland.  This is intended to ensure that Ireland continues to manage its fire risk effectively and that the downward trend in the level of fire loss recorded annually continues. KCS includes, inter alia, the re-alignment of structures to deliver effective fire services.  This provides for fire services to remain as a local authority function, but service delivery is to be reshaped from the current 30 fire services to 21, with 14 single fire authorities and 7 ‘shared services’.  Carlow / Kilkenny is included among the ‘shared services’. 

There is significant experience among fire authorities of delivering aspects of their services on a ‘shared service’ basis. This experience, coupled with the work already underway to integrate fire services in Tipperary, Limerick and Waterford, will provide a solid basis for developing an appropriate model of shared services for fire authorities, based on populations in the range of 120,000 to 200,000.