Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

317. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if there is a database accessible to each local fire station that includes the locations and notable details of the 292 multi-storied buildings throughout Ireland that utilise similar cladding to that which was used at Grenfell Tower in London. [4798/18]

Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

329. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if there are pre-fire plans between stations for specific multi-storied buildings in their adjoining precincts. [4810/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 317 and 329 together.

In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017,  fire authorities were requested to carry out a preliminary survey to identify buildings of more than six storeys, or more than 18m in height, fitted with external cladding or rain screen systems, with or without insulation, and to consider whether use of the power under Section 18 (6) of the Fire Services Act 1981, to require a fire safety assessment, is warranted in respect of identified buildings.

The work of identifying 842 buildings within the medium and high rise category has been undertaken by local authorities, 291 of which are identified as having certain categories of external cladding. After preliminary consideration, local authorities have requested the persons having control of 231 of these buildings to have detailed fire safety assessments carried out.

A guidance note – Fire safety Guidance Note 01 of 2017 Assessing Existing Cladding Systems in Buildings of More than Six Storeys, or More than 18m in Height – has been circulated to fire authorities and placed on my Department’s website as a support for those undertaking assessments of cladding in medium to high rise building.

In relation to providing information to crews in local fire stations, it is expected that information garnered by each local authority on the medium to high rise buildings in their functional area will be used as part of the basis for prioritising Pre-Incident Planning in each fire station area. Pre-Incident Familiarisation involves the crews in each fire station visiting the highest risk premises (for example, hospitals, nursing homes, institutions, industrial / Seveso plants, shopping complexes, etc.) in their station area, to familiarise themselves with the overall layout of the building(s) and the specific risks and fire safety features associated with the premises. A prelude to such visits usually involves the harvesting of information and preparation of site-specific “Pre-Incident Plans”.

Pre-Incident Planning and Familiarisation work is generally managed on a fire station-by-station basis, and selection of priority buildings for Pre-Incident Planning in each fire station area is best left to local judgement. However, additional information on medium-to-high rise buildings has been identified as part of the surveys carried out by fire authorities following the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower in London. While it is expected that many medium to high rise buildings would already be included in current pre-incident planning priorities of local fire stations, it is expected that any additional information on fire safety arising from the fire safety assessments will be factored into on-going Pre-Incident Planning programmes at local level.

Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

318. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the risk-based approach reports are still utilised by first responders in each local fire station since its introduction in 2012. [4799/18]

Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

319. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the last time the risk-based approach report was updated. [4800/18]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 318 and 319 together.

In February 2013, my Department’s National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management published the policy document, “Keeping Communities Safe - A framework for Fire Safety in Ireland” (KCS).

KCS is the report on the outcome of a wide-ranging review of fire services in Ireland which was undertaken in 2011/2012, and was endorsed as national policy in early 2013. KCS is based on the internationally used systemic risk management approach and places emphasis on fire prevention and fire protection facilities in buildings, as well as on fire service response.

For the first time KCS sets national norms, standards and targets for the provision of safe and effective fire services in Ireland. Further, KCS identifies priorities and sets ambitious targets for reductions in annual fire loss, including fire deaths and reasserts the principle of the nearest available fire appliance being deployed to an emergency incident, irrespective of administrative boundaries.

Following the publication of KCS, each fire authority was requested to undertake an initial Area Risk Categorisation process for its functional area, using a process set out in Chapter 7 of KCS, and to prepare a short report on the process and outcomes. The Area Risk Categorisation process results in the area to which the first response is sent by each fire station, known as the ‘fire station ground’, being assigned a Risk Category(s) Grading, ranging across five grades, from very high, high, medium, low to very low risk.

Over the course of 2014/2015, the National Directorate’s Management Board's External Validation Group (EVG) visited every local authority in the country as part of a new external validation process on area risk categorisation in Ireland arising from implementation of KCS. In April 2016, the Board published the first EVG Report titled “Local Delivery - National Consistency”. The report concluded, inter alia, that:

- Fire Services are applying and refining internationally recognised risk management approaches to reduce the fire risk and the annual toll of life and property loss caused by fire.

- Local authorities are matching the assessed fire risk in their individual fire station areas with services based on both full-time and retained fire service models, with a comprehensive support infrastructure, and applying a range of appropriate fire prevention and fire protection approaches.

- Local authorities have prioritised and maintained the financial and personnel resources in their fire services at a time when they have implemented significant reductions in all other areas.

- Local authorities have benchmarked their fire services against national standards and national norms, and a strong degree of consistency, linked to area risk categorisation, now exists in fire service provision; all local authorities are using, or are working towards, national norms as minimum standards.

A copy of this report is available on my Department's website at the following link: .

A consultation exercise with staffing interests was commenced on 10 March 2016 with a view to identifying potential enhancements to the ARC process. It is intended to commence a second round of Area Risk Categorisation and associated external validation in 2018.