Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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353. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to outline the report of the fire authority on health and safety at Traveller accommodation sites; if all local authorities completed and returned their reports on same; the conclusions drawn from these reports and any impact on the Traveller accommodation budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22385/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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A Report on the Programme to Review and Enhance Fire Safety in local authority provided Traveller Accommodation is in the final stages of preparation by my Department’s Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management.

The programme was initiated in the aftermath of the fire tragedy in Carrickmines, Dublin on 10 October, 2015. All local authorities completed and returned their individual reports, which will be collated in the National Report.

From the outset of the project, a collaborative approach, which incorporated the concerns, views, advice and knowledge of Travellers and Traveller Organisations was adopted, working together in a National Steering Group with fire safety professionals in the local authority fire service and staff in local authority housing departments.

The report will provide relevant back ground information and describe the methodology adopted for the task of auditing local authority provided Traveller accommodation against appropriate fire safety benchmarks which were set out in the Guide to Fire Safety in Existing Traveller Accommodation. This review process has focussed on the fire safety measures which are perceived to be the most effective in protecting life safety among the Traveller community. Three specific issues were identified from an early stage:

- The absence of smoke alarms which would alert sleeping families to the dangers of fire at an early stage and enable them to evacuate quickly;

- The danger posed in multi-unit accommodation by the layout of units where a fire in one could prevent people from another unit escaping to safety;

- The dangers of fire (and electrocution) posed by inappropriate extension of electrical connections between units.

The report will describe the extent to which the process has seen improvement works carried out to address the above key issues and a range of other fire safety factors. In addition to the physical works, the report will describe a parallel programme of “community fire safety” which has been undertaken incorporating training for key workers and engagement with community groups on fire safety awareness. Fire services have also carried out “Pre-Incident Planning” visits to ensure familiarity with the location of Traveller accommodation and to deal with access and water supply issues in case of response to future fire incidents.

It is expected that, when the National Steering Group has reviewed the draft report, it will include a number of conclusions and recommendations to clarify recommended approaches and to ensure the issue of fire safety in Traveller accommodation is embedded into future work programmes.