asked the Minister for Local Government if he considers the two-day course for county and city engineers run by his Department through An Foras Forbartha adequate for the improvement of the fire service.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Fire Service Course.
17.
The purpose of the seminar was to provide the senior officials concerned with an opportunity of extending and updating knowledge and information about aspects of the technical management of the fire service. While seminars of the kind on different subjects are a fairly regular feature for local authority technical officers, there is no basis for the implication that no other measures for improvement of the fire service are envisaged. The general question of short-term arrangements for the central training of fire service personnel is at present being considered by a sub-group of the Local Government Manpower Committee, and an interim report relating to breathing apparatus training has already been acted upon.
On the wider front, I have asked all local authorities to conduct a thorough assessment of the strength and efficiency of the fire service in their area, extending both to fire fighting and fire prevention programmes, and have provided guidance on how this should be done. This work is at present in progress and is of fundamental importance in the opportunity which it affords local authorities to identify any weaknesses there may be and to identify any necessary improvements.
In the meantime on-going improvement programmes, including those relating to provision of fire stations and fire-fighting appliances, are being maintained.