Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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574. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he is aware that firefighters in County Kildare are not available to cut down trees, but that in neighbouring counties it is part of the job description. [42769/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Fire authorities have specific statutory responsibility to respond to fires and protect property. Additionally, there is statutory provision for fire services to respond to non-fire emergency operations, including response to road traffic accidents, incidents involving hazardous materials, and rescue operations, such as rescues from water, heights or confined spaces.

Other discretionary roles, such as dealing with fallen trees on roads, may be considered by each fire service, with a policy decision to be made on response to these types of occurrences, taking into account the need for the roles and the associated risks. In deciding to undertake a role, services should be conscious of the need to have safe systems of work in place, including appropriate equipment, procedures, training and instructions, as well as the effect any response to these roles may have on the availability of fire services for their core public safety roles.

Local authorities may have arrangements, other than use of fire services, for dealing with occurrences such as fallen trees on roads, and may consider that the additional costs associated with training of fire service personnel and maintenance of skills may not be justified when viewed alongside the frequency of incidents.