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 & 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 priority infrastructural projects.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.

The 2021 - 2025 Programme was projected to see six new fire stations built, continued support for the construction of a further 12 new fire stations, nine fire station refurbishments as well as the allocation of 35 new fire appliances. Continued investment in the fire appliance fleet has been identified as a key national priority; that is why, in October 2023, then Minister O’Brien announced the allocation of an additional 40 new fire appliances at a cost of €20.8m.

Kildare County Council identified a new fire station at Maynooth as their number one infrastructural priority for inclusion on the fire services 2021 – 2025 Capital programme. Kildare County Council were approved to accept the preferred tender of €4.4 million, fully funded through my Departments Fire Service Capital programme for the construction phase of a new three bay fire station incorporating environmentally friendly features, including the installation of PV panels, air-to water heating systems, as well as insulation of doors, windows, roof, floor and walls to improve conservation of energy in March 2024. I understand this project is progressing well with a forecast date for completion in 2025.

To date under the 2021 – 2025 Fire Services Capital Programme, Kildare Fire Service has received approximately €2.875 million in capital funding to,

• support their priority infrastructural project at Maynooth;
• new equipment to support enhanced response to structural fire, road traffic and Hazmat incidents;
• funding for the purchase of fire service support vehicles;
• funding for the allocation of a new Class B fire tender under the 2021 – 2023 Office of Government Procurement (OGP) framework.

Kildare Fire Service has also received funding approval of approximately €790,000 to support the planned purchase of new road traffic collision cutting equipment for each of the six Kildare fire service brigades and a further allocation of a new Class B fire tender under the 2023 – 2025 OGP Framework, scheduled for completion and delivery in July 2026.

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 identified priority infrastructural projects, within the context of the totality of requests from fire authorities countrywide for capital funding.