John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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378. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will consider introducing a medal for bravery for members of the fire service for both the full-time and retained service similar to the Scott medal for members of An Garda Síochána; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52667/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Persons from all strands 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 understand that a number of members of the fire service from all over the country have been recognised under the Scheme for courageous acts.

I wish to take this opportunity to place on record my appreciation of the vital contribution made to our society by the men and women of the local authority fire services. Fire services place a huge emphasis on safety of their staff and are they trained to operate as teams, to evaluate each emergency situation and plan interventions in accordance with Standard Operational Guidance, to undertake appropriate risk assessments. Working under the direction of the Incident Commander, their focus is to ensure the safety and welfare of the public they serve, as well as their colleagues and themselves. Given the fire service's focus on teamwork, risk assessment and the structured approach to their work, I have no current plans to introduce a separate bravery awards scheme for individual members of local authority fire services staff; however, I am open to hearing the views of fire service representatives on the matter.

In 1992, a scheme of recognition of long service 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. Unfortunately, due to COVID, ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of infection and the need to protect the health of firefighters, these national ceremonies will be replaced by small local presentations until it is safe for us to gather in large groups again.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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379. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to issues regarding recruitment and retention within the retained fire service; his plans to carry out a review of the retained fire service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52668/21]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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380. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of fire fighters in each fire authority in addition to the full establishment figures. [52669/21]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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381. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of fire fighters for each fire station in County Wicklow in addition to the full establishment figures. [52670/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 379, 380 and 381 together.

The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003. My Department supports fire authorities through setting general policy and national standards, providing a central training programme and issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding for priority infrastructural projects. Fire services issues are managed in my Department by the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM).

Fire services are provided in Ireland by local authorities in accordance with the provisions of the Fire Services Acts, 1981 and 2003. Under this legislation, there are 31 fire authorities which provide fire prevention and fire protection services for communities through 27 service delivery structures. Local authority fire services are delivered by approximately 3,300 local authority staff engaged at 217 fire stations nationwide, with 16 of these stations being staffed by full-time firefighters, a further 4 are mixed full-time and retained, and 197 are staffed by retained firefighters.

The prioritisation of work and effective management of all resources is, in the first instance, a matter for the fire authority, based on its assessment of risk, needs and resources. In relation to the staffing requirements in each local authority, under the Local Government Act 2001, it is the responsibility of each Chief Executive to employ such staff and to make such staffing, funding, recruitment and organisational arrangements as may be deemed necessary for the purposes of carrying out the functions of their local authority.

In 2013, my Department published 'Keeping Communities Safe (KCS) - A Framework for Fire Safety in Ireland'. The adoption of KCS as national policy saw national norms/ standards being established for fire services in Ireland for the first time, against which local authority fire services could benchmark themselves.The report of the Fire Service Validation Group, ' Fire Services in Ireland, Local Delivery - National Consistency', published in 2016, noted the staffing arrangements in place in fire services across Ireland to achieve these standards and that fire services manage staffing levels in fire stations to achieve the national standards of fire service response.

The provision of fire services by local authorities is based on a risk management approach which involves an analysis of the nature of the fire hazards and the incidence and extent of fires which occur, as well as the fire protection measures in place. There has been a welcome downward trend in the incidence of fire, with the fire fatality rate per million of population, using a three year average, currently at 4.3 deaths per million of population. While each death is one too many, this figure is a third of what it was twenty years ago when it stood at 12.9 deaths per million of population and positions Ireland among countries with very low fire fatality rates.

Local Authority fire services in Ireland are staffed by over three thousand professional, competent and highly committed personnel in the full-time and retained fire services. Local authorities, as the funders and the employers of fire service personnel, have demonstrated their commitment to their fire services over the past number of years. The number of frontline fire service staff have been maintained at a consistent high level throughout the economic challenges of the past number of years, even at a time when staffing numbers were of necessity reduced in other areas of the local authorities.

In relation to issues regarding recruitment and retention within the retained fire service; the Management Board of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management has approved a proposal for undertaking a review of the model of local authority ‘retained’ fire services delivery, with particular emphasis on the recruitment and retention of staff. The objective is to explore and understand the issues which are impacting on service delivery, to undertake research and analysis and to propose options which will underpin the continuing provision of effective and inclusive local authority fire services into the future.

While my Department does not routinely collect the data in the format requested by the Deputy, a breakdown of the number of firefighters in each fire service as of October 2021, based on data supplied by local authorities, is set out in the table below. Information in relation to staffing in individual fire stations is not available at this time.