asked the Minister for Local Government if he is satisfied that reasonable fire protection standards apply in Irish hotels.
Written Answers. - Hotel Fire Protection Standards.
105.
Sufficient information is not available to enable a statement to be made on the standard of fire safety in hotels in general. It must be said that the first responsibility in this matter rests with the owners and operators of the premises, as is rightly stressed in the report of the working party on the fire service.
I am concerned that local authorities should make full use of the powers of inspection and control which are available to them to promote fire safety in their areas with particular reference to older buildings and places of public resort, including hotels. Local authorities have been urged on various occasions to intensify their fire prevention work to this end. To assist in the work, my Department have published a booklet on fire safety in hotels as well as more general fire safety standards.
It may be some reassurance to the Deputy to know that statistical returns for 1975 indicate that, while brigades were called to deal with 85 fires in hotels, most of these were of a minor nature and the number represented less than 1 per cent of the total number of fires dealt with.