John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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263. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will consider introducing annual medal presentations for bravery as takes place for members of An Garda Síochána for members of the fire service both full-time and retained firefighters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52333/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Persons from all walks of life and all sections of society, including staff of local authority fire services, are eligible to be nominated for an award under the National Bravery Awards. Under this scheme, Deeds of Bravery Awards are given to people who have saved a human life involving personal risk to themselves.

Comhairle na Míre Gaile - the Council for the recognition of Deeds of Bravery – is under the remit of the Minister for Justice and Equality, and it meets on an annual basis to consider and decide on the awards to be made.  The scheme has been in operation since 1947 and awards are presented in four categories – gold, silver, bronze and a certificate of recognition.  Further information relating to the Bravery Awards may be found at: www.bravery.ie. 

I wish to take this opportunity to again place on the record my appreciation of the vital contribution made to our society by the men and women of the local authority fire services. Fire services are trained to operate as teams, to evaluate each emergency situation and to undertake appropriate risk assessments to ensure the safety of the public they serve as well as their colleagues and themselves. Given the focus on teamwork and risk assessment, I have no plans to introduce a separate bravery awards scheme for individual members of local authority fire services staff.

In 1992, a scheme of long service awards for personnel in the local authority fire services was launched.  There are four categories of awards, marking service of ten years, twenty years, thirty years and forty years.  The ten-year award is a certificate presented locally, while the twenty, thirty and forty year awards all involve the presentation of medals and certificates at a national ceremony. The twenty-year award is a medal bearing the traditional logo representation of the fire service - a helmet and crossed axes.  The thirty-year award is a flame emblem.  The forty-year award is a bar; both the emblem and bar attach onto the medal ribbon.  

The first national awards presentation was organised in 1998 and is now held every two years at a national presentation ceremony. The latest of these ceremonies was held in November 2018 at which 288 fire service personnel were eligible for awards.