Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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803. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to provide a list of all new fire stations opened in the past eight years, by location, excluding renovations to existing fire stations, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29582/25]

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

Any proposal received by my Department requesting further support from the Fire Services Capital Programme is considered with regard to national priorities and the totality of requests from fire authorities countrywide.

In December 2020, Minister O’Brien announced a new 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 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 (is site acquired, etc.); and
• value for money offered by the proposal.

The table below details solely new fire station builds for the timeline indicated.

Fire Services Capital Programme New Fire Station Builds 2017 - 2025