Vol. 550 No. 4
463 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the position regarding the application for a full-time fire station for Bray, County Wicklow; when this will be in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8586/02]
The provision of fire cover is a statutory duty of the local fire authority, in this instance Wicklow County Council. It is a matter for the council in the first instance to consider the fire fighting provisions needed to enable it to meet its statutory responsibilities as set out in the Fire Services Act, 1981.
I recently announced the publication of the Farrell Grant Sparks report on the review of fire safety and fire services in Ireland, which sets out a comprehensive set of recommendations for the future development of the service. The report recommends that the existing statutory role of local fire authorities should be extended and strengthened. It also recommends the introduction of a risk based approach to standards of fire cover and I concur with this recommendation. It indicates that this new approach will guide the determination of stations which will need to convert to full-time operations, while acknowledging that cover provided by existing stations in particular areas will only need to change in a relatively small number of cases.
