Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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278. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when a review of the current National Retained Firefighters' Association of Ireland model will take place (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59195/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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In May 2021, I requested the Management Board of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management to undertake a review of the model of local authority ‘Retained’ fire services delivery. This review has a particular emphasis on the recruitment and retention of staff, with the proviso that due consideration also be given to input from the County and City Management Association.

‘Retained firefighters’ are members of their local community who are on call to respond to a range of emergencies. All firefighters are required to undergo a continuous development training programme by attending lectures, exercises, practical courses and other forms of training to maintain competency levels. Many retained firefighters have other full or part-time jobs but when the call comes are ready to drop whatever they are doing and become part of a team, ready to face a wide range of emergencies. Retained Firefighters are paid an annual retainer with additional payments for attendance to drill training and per call out.

The objective of the review is to explore and understand the issues that are impacting on service delivery, to undertake research and analysis and to propose options that will underpin the continuing provision of effective and inclusive local authority retained fire services into the future.

The initial engagement element of the review was the gathering of appropriate data and information, to inform the needs analysis and option appraisals for further development. To that end, the project team undertook a procurement process and engaged the services of an independent consultant to survey the views of the personnel who work in the retained fire services and those that have recently retired from the retained fire services. In preparing the survey, the project team sought the views of retained services trade union representatives through the Fire Services National Oversight and Implementation Group.

Comprehensive updates on the progress of the report have been positively received by the Fire Services National Oversight and Implementation Group. There is broad agreement that the survey outcomes are reflective of feedback received directly from Retained Fire service members previously, and that the Fire Services National Oversight and Implementation Group remains the appropriate forum for feedback on the report.

It is anticipated that the final review report will be submitted to the Management Board of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management at its December 2022 meeting. The board will submit the report to me following agreement. Following this, recommendations to address the issues raised in relation to the recruitment and retention of Retained Firefighters will then need to be considered together with all relevant stakeholders.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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279. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide additional resources to Wicklow County Council in order to provide for a full-time fire service for Bray town and its surrounds. [59197/22]

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 Acts, 1981 and 2003. My Department, primarily through the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM), supports the fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding for equipment and priority infrastructural projects.

Fire services are provided in Ireland by local authorities in accordance with the provisions of the Fire Services Acts, 1981 and 2003. Currently, 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 218 fire stations nationwide.

A 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 report was 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 is available on my Department's website at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/72e1d-keeping-communities-safe/.

The KCS policy document set out the overall approach, the methods and the techniques to achieve the objective of keeping communities safe from fire. For the first time, it set out national norms, standards and targets against which local authorities can benchmark their fire services. It concluded that local authorities were best positioned to continue to provide fire services in Ireland.

Over the course of 2014/2015, an External Validation Group (EVG) commissioned by the Management Board of the NDFEM, visited every fire service in the country as part of a new external validation process arising from the implementation of KCS. In April 2016, the Management Board published the first EVG Report titled “Local Delivery - National Consistency”. The findings of that process are available on my Department's website at the following link:

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

In recognition of population movements and changes in the built environment over time leading to variation in the categories of response which are applicable, KCS also set out the requirement to monitor and review risk categories. In 2020 a desktop review, titled the Capacity Review, was undertaken by the NDFEM. Following its completion, a report titled Response, Resilience & Recovery, was completed in October 2020.

The revised Area Risk Categorisations (ARC), for all stations in Wicklow, including Bray, were reviewed by the External Validation Group, in November of 2014. The Wicklow ARC was further reviewed during the Capacity Review, on 26th August, 2020 at the request of management in Wicklow County Council. A further independent report provided by a UK based consultant, which examined the provision of fire services in Bray, based upon an assessment undertaken in accordance with UK standards, was also reviewed.

The Area Risk Categorisation of the Bray fire station area at category C2, medium risk, is consistent across all three reviews, using the documentation and supporting evidence provided. This categorisation is consistent with national guidance, as contained within KCS.

Each of the three reviews provides a recommendation for one “Retained” pumping appliance in the Bray fire station area, to attend incidents commensurate with its risk. The current provision in Bray fire station, is two “Retained” pumping appliances.

Having reviewed all of the available evidence, Wicklow County Council have made the decision to continue the operation of Bray Fire Station as a Retained Fire Station, in line with the current Area Risk Categorisation C2.