Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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1294. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the Keeping Community Safe (Framework for Fire Safety in Ireland) has been reviewed in the past two years; the person or body who led this review; if this review has been accepted and agreed by the Minister; the criteria changes made to risk categorisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20140/25]

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 Act, 1981.

Keeping Communities Safe (KCS) was adopted as government policy in 2013 and is based on the internationally-used systemic risk management approach combining fire safety, fire protection in the built environment and fire service response measures. KCS provides for the delivery of consistent and effective fire services in Ireland while continuing to reduce the risk from fires in communities, prioritising the safety of fire personnel in their work. KCS policy sets out the overall approach, the methods and the techniques to achieve the objective of keeping communities safe from fire, setting out national norms, standards and targets against which local authorities can benchmark their fire services.

Over the course of 2014/2015, an External Validation Group (EVG) commissioned by the Management Board of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (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 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 findings of this review indicated a strong capacity in terms of fire safety and operations across the fire services.

KCS provides for each fire service to undertake an Area Risk Categorisation (ARC) process in respect of each of its fire station areas. The outcome of this process enables fire service management to establish a risk grading across very high risk, high risk, medium risk, low risk or very low risk categories.

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 sets out the requirement to monitor risk categories.

ARC is a critical tool for ensuring that fire service resources are used effectively and efficiently, and that the safety of the public is prioritised in all communities. By assessing and classifying areas based on defined risk factors, fire services can demonstrate an evidenced based approach to service delivery.