Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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607. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he and or his officials have engaged with the chief fire officer and or the local authority management in respect of the establishment of a new fire house in the Monasterevin area of Kildare and in respect of a full upgrade of the existing building. [16760/25]

James Browne (Wexford, 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 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.

Project consideration stages from a Department perspective include submission of preliminary and detailed appraisals; submission of design brief; selection of a site; application for approval in principle; appointment of design consultants; submission of a preliminary design; planning application; submission of a preliminary cost plan, detailed design and cost plans; and tender process and construction stages - each step subject to approval from my Department.

In December 2020, Minister Darragh O'Brien announced the Fire Services Capital Programme for the period 2021-2025, with a funding allocation of €61m. Following extensive engagement with fire authorities, a number of proposals for station works etc. were received.

The proposals were evaluated and prioritised on the basis of the:

• Area Risk Categorisation of the fire station (population, fire risks, etc.);
• established Health and Safety needs;
• state of development of the project;
• value for money offered by the proposal; and
• the totality of requests from all authorities.

Kildare County Council was approved to accept a tender for the construction phase of the new Maynooth Fire station in March 2024 with €4.4 million allocated to fund the project from my Department's fire services capital programme.

Kildare County Council has indicated a new fire station for Monasterevin to be a priority infrastructural project for consideration through the Fire Services Capital Programme 2026 – 2030.

My Department will be identifying new priority fire service infrastructural projects for the period 2026 – 2030 in the coming months. My Department will work closely with Kildare County Council to progress their identified priority infrastructural projects, within the context of the totality of requests from fire authorities countrywide for capital funding.