James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 261 and 263 together.

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 fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding support for equipment and priority infrastructural projects. Fire service issues are managed in my Department by the National Directorate for Fire & Emergency Management (NDFEM).

The arrangements for mobilising a response to a 999/112 emergency call from the public for fire service assistance are handled at three Regional Communications Centres around the country, where call-takers establish the location and nature of the emergency and then mobilise the nearest geographical resource to the location of the incident based on Pre-Determined Attendance (PDA).

The National Mobilisation and Communications System (NMACS) is a dedicated and exclusive system for the receipt of emergency fire calls, fire incident management and the deployment of fire resources. NMACS is operated by Limerick City & County Council on a shared service basis. My Department provides capital funding to Limerick City & County Council supporting the NMACS programme.

The NMACS command and control platform is now live in both the Munster Regional Communications Centre (MRCC) and the Western Regional Communications Centre (WRCC), having replaced an old legacy system. NMACS is a new generation command and control system that provides more technical capabilities and is implemented on resilient enterprise architecture. The under-pinning design principle is resilience, implemented to enable any fire service call to be processed at any regional centre. This ensures that full services can be maintained in spate conditions (storms, floods, etc.) or where a fault occurs.

Between 27 November 2024 and 4 November 2025, NMACS has received 19,831 incoming emergency calls which resulted in 13,916 mobilisations to fire service incidents.

Fire Service staff in all regions are fully engaged, on an ongoing basis, in the project, throughout its development, procurement and implementation in the Munster and Western Regions as well as the planned migration in the Eastern region. Staff representing each of the three regional communication centres (i.e. including Dublin) have participated in all phases of testing and development, working closely with the NMAC team.

Engagement with staff side associations and internal communications are a matter for Dublin city Council as the employer of DFB personnel. There is engagement currently taking place through the WRC between DFB management and the staff side. I would encourage both sides to actively engage with the WRC with a view to coming to a positive conclusion.