Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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339. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will conduct a full review of the retained aspect of the retained members of the State’s provision of firefighters in the context of health and safety in view of the fact that some retainers are on a standby for up to 120 hours per week; and if he has considered the outcomes of the Matzak case in this context. [62765/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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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 Act, 1981. My Department supports fire authorities through setting general policy and progressing legislation, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding support for equipment and priority infrastructural projects.

The prioritisation and effective management of all resources is, in the first instance, a matter for each of the fire authorities based on their assessment of local needs and requirements. 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.

The Management Board of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management mandated a small internal project team to undertake a review of the model of local authority ‘retained’ fire services delivery, with an emphasis on the recruitment/ retention of staff and other developments which could have implications for service provision.

The objective of the review 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. The Project Team will work with and report to the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management Fire Service Operations Committee and may, subject to appropriate approval, seek additional resources or set up relevant sub-group(s) to provide advice or to assist it in the performance of its functions.

The initial engagement element of the review is the gathering of appropriate data and information, to inform the needs analysis and option appraisals for further development. To that end, the project team have secured the services of an independent consultant who will survey the views of the personnel who work in the retained fire services and those who have recently retired from the retained fire services. That feedback in conjunction with consultation at appropriate stages with all key stakeholders during the review process, including central and local government, the public, fire service management/staff, and the staffing interest groups will form the basis of the final review report.

It is the expectation of the project team that the final review report will be submitted to the Management Board of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management. At that time the Management Board of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management will make a determination on the publication of the report.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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340. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he has been briefed in respect of a national full-time fire service; and if he and his officials past or present have conducted a cost benefit analysis to establish the viability of such a national service. [62766/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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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 Act, 1981. My Department supports fire authorities through setting general policy and progressing legislation, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding support for equipment and priority infrastructural projects.

The most recent review of fire services in Ireland resulted in the publication of “Keeping Communities Safe - A Framework for Fire Safety in Ireland” (KCS) in 2013. This was 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. It concluded that local authorities were best positioned to continue to provide fire services in Ireland.

The provision of fire services by local authorities is based on a risk management approach of area risk categorisation 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. The current fire fatality rate per million of population, using a three year average, equates to 4.3 deaths per million of population, this figure is a third of what it was twenty years ago when it stood at 12.9 deaths per million of population. While every death is a regrettable tragedy that level of fire fatalities positions Ireland among countries with lower fire fatality rates.

Fire authorities cooperate with each other as and when required and on a regular basis on a number of matters. For example, they are enabled by the Fire Services Act, 1981 and 2003 to assist each other and provide support on a ‘mutual-assistance’ basis, and this is the expected norm for fire services. The Chief Fire Officer for the area where a large scale incident is located will typically engage neighbouring services when required, on the basis of agreed pre-planned arrangements.

At national level, a National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM) was created within my Department in 2009 to give central direction and leadership for the fire and emergency management services. The 2009 arrangements put in place a management structure at central government level with a clear mandate and visibility to develop national policy and to drive consistent achievement of quality fire services by local authorities. Under the system, responsibility for the day-to-day operation of fire services remains with the local authorities. However, the National Directorate’s mandate includes developing national policies and national standards, and supporting and overseeing their implementation at local level.

Over the course of 2014/2015, the National Directorate’s Management Board's External Validation Group (EVG) visited every fire service in the country as part of an external validation process arising from implementation of KCS. In April 2016, the Management Board published the first EVG Report titled “Local Delivery - National Consistency”. The report concluded that current fire service arrangements, as outlined, are working effectively to meet the challenges involved in trying to protect communities from fire and other emergencies.

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

www.gov.ie/en/publication/a23ce-external-validation-of-fire-services/

In May 2019, the Management Board of NDFEM considered a proposal for a second round of external validation, or EVG II. Stakeholder engagement was undertaken in preparation for a thematic review process, which was scheduled to commence in Q1 2020. However, due to Covid-19, the Board made a decision to postpone this process.

As an alternative, the Management Board mandated staff in the NDFEM to undertake a review of the impact of Covid-19 on local authority fire service resilience and response, as well as on fire safety work and to look at fire services roles in supporting Covid-related emergency management.

This review was undertaken by means of ‘virtual visits’ (i.e. by Webex link) to each of the 27 fire services and three Regional Communications Centres. This ‘virtual’ process was undertaken by an NDFEM team, working in association with Chief Fire Officers and their staff and local authority executives. A composite report on themes related to the impact of Covid-19 on fire services was compiled and presented to the NDFEM Management Board in October 2020.

Unfortunately, the current Covid-19 situation has understandably delayed the EVG II process. The position in relation to undertaking an EVG II will be kept under review by the NDFEM Management Board, taking account of the virtual experience of the response and resilience study and in light of the evolving Covid-19 situation. A new EVG II process would likely focus once again on the delivery standards of our fire services and an assessment of how the structure of the service impacts on delivery.