Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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538. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to update the Fire Services Act 1981; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38663/18]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Fire Services Act 1981 provides for the establishment of fire authorities and the organisation of fire services and for life safety, fire fighting, the protection and rescue of persons and property and related matters. The Act was amended in 2003 by the Licensing of Indoor Events Act 2003, primarily to strengthen the powers of fire authorities to prosecute summary offences and to update provisions in relation to penalties and service of notices.

The Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003 are generally considered fit for purpose. However, the Report of the Fire Safety Task Force, established in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy and overseen by my Department’s National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management, makes a number of recommendations for enhancing the current fire safety system.

The statutory responsibilities of the “person having control” of premises, as set out in section 18 of the Fire Services Act 1981, emerged as a key area of focus for the Task Force and it proposes a number of amendments to the current regulatory system in order to enhance and ensure fire safety in certain categories of buildings, in particular in certain forms of residential/sleeping accommodation identified as a priority area for fire safety efforts. The legislative amendments proposed by the Task Force seek to clarify and simplify the statutory obligations imposed on the ‘person having control’ as well as introducing a number of new reporting mechanisms through which the fire safety arrangements in place in premises and sleeping accommodation are brought to the attention of the public. To ensure that “persons having control” of premises take action to fulfil their statutory obligations, the Task Force recommends also that a revised focus on enforcement be put in place in parallel to eliminate any disregard for fire safety considerations.

I have accepted the Task Force’s recommendations and have requested the Management Board of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management to carry through the recommendations of the report within my direct ambit and to oversee and report on the implementation of other recommendations.

Copies of both the Report and the Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations are available on my Department’s website at the following links:

Fire Safety Task Force Report:

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Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations:

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