I would like to thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this topic for discussion in the Seanad tonight. I am delighted the Minister for the Environment is in the Chamber to take this issue.
All Senators will be aware, yesterday marked the eighth anniversary of the horrific fire at the Stardust night club in Artane in which 48 people died tragically and 128 people were seriously injured. The effects on the communities of Artane, Coolock and Raheny have been devastating and are still felt very much today. Following the fire, a number of relatives established a committee in the locality called the Stardust Victims Committee. The committee was set up to achieve a number of aims, the main one being to secure adequate compensation for relatives of the dead and for those who were seriously injured. This was a long struggle for the committee. I was delighted to be associated with their endeavours and, thankfully, the issue of compensation has now been dealt with adequately after a long campaign.
The committee had many other objectives and still have them today. The main one at present is the proper development of the Stardust site and the provision of an adequate memorial for those who died. However, there is one major objective still remaining and it is still very much pursued by the Stardust Victims Committee and that is to ensure that a similar type Stardust fire never happens again.
Following the fire in 1981 the Government announced that a public inquiry would be held and a tribunal established. Item 2 in relation to the terms of reference provides for the making of such recommendations as the tribunal having regard to its findings thinks proper in respect of the statutory and other provisions in relation to fire prevention and means and systems of emergency escape from fire, and in respect of adequacy and enforcement and any other matters that the tribunal considers relevant.
The final report eventually made a number of recommendations and these are to be found on pages 308 to 322 of the report. We are now eight years on and need to know where we are in relation to fire prevention, fire protection, fire legislation and the implementation of the recommedations of the Stardust Tribunal. Recent newspaper articles have suggested that there are still some problems in relation to our fire laws and fire safety. The Sunday Tribune had an article last Sunday which suggested that there were still problems with overcrowding in Dublin nightspots. I have since discussed the issue with firemen and officers at Tara Street who have confirmed that there are some difficulties which need to be tackled, and tackled urgently. I would be greatful if the Minister in response could give a progress report on the implementation of a number of the recommendations which I will now deal with.
Of crucial importance with regard to Irish fire safety is the issue of regulations, and indeed the absence of regulations. Irish law suffers from lack of regulations at present. At the moment each local authority has to establish standards and these are ad hoc and may differ from authority to authority. In the Building Control Bill, 1984, these regulations are laid down very clearly and it would be of vital importance that this Bill would go through the Dáil and also be passed by the Seanad. I understand that it is now at Committee Stage in Dáil Éireann. It is absolutely vital that these regulations be introduced so that there is no cause for doubt and that the regulations are there for everybody to see and to implement. It is unsatisfactory at the moment to rely on standards. There is no danger with regard to the existing standards but it would be preferable if the same regulations applied in every local authority.
In the Stardust Tribunal report the establishment of an inspectorate of five services was recommended to set objective standards for every fire authority and to supervise and inspect all fire services in the country. In fact this was never established. I would be interested to know the Department's view of whether it is necessary to establish an inspectorate of fire services. Certainly, the tribunal report felt that it was. Again, they were anxious to tackle the whole ad hoc basis to fire legislation and to have one single inspectorate examining each authority throughout the country and setting up objective standards.
The tribunal also recommended that the control and direction of individual fire brigades become the responsibility of the Department of the Environment. This also has not happened. As a local authority member I suppose I would have a conflict of interest in relation to this recommendation in that maybe local authorities should have a great degree of independence in relation to what they do but, again, there might be a danger that the whole business would be left on an ad hoc basis again. Perhaps the Department of the Environment should intervene to a larger extent than they are doing at present. Certainly, the tribunal recommended that that be the case.
The tribunal report also called for the establishment of a national training centre. At the moment the nearest thing we have to that is the O'Brien Institute in Marino which has been a tremendous success. Perhaps the services there could be expanded to bring about a national training centre. Recent media reports have also suggested that in relation to the Dublin Fire Brigade half the firemen have not been properly trained in the use of breathing apparatus. Again, it is never suggested that this is a dangerous situation but I think it is worth a comment.
In my discussions with some of the firemen and fire officers at Tara Street I found a general concern regarding the lack of mobility between senior officers and firemen. This issue was touched on in the Stardust Tribunal report. Certainly firemen at Tara Street now would say that the fact that there is not this mobility between senior officers and firemen and the lack of promotional prospects and so on is leading to low morale among firemen. I understand that the fire services council have now submitted a report to the Minister in relation to education and the fire service which is of crucial importance to this issue. That is an area that must be dealt with in a pragmatic fashion to tackle this problem of low morale with regard to this issue.
The Stardust Tribunal report also had some criticisms in relation to the control room at Tara Street. I visited Tara Street recently and there is certainly no cause for alarm at the conditions there but the officers had some constructive proposals to make. They felt that a re-organisation of the emergency system there would be beneficial. At the moment there are three telephones in Tara Street and the officer in charge can also be expected to answer the telephone. Perhaps this is not a good thing in that if an officer has to take overall control of the situation he may not be available to make instant decisions if he is involved in taking a telephone call on one particular telephone line. Maybe that is an area that should be tackled. Perhaps one officer could be given overall responsibility and allow the firemen there to take the telephone calls. These are just some minor adjustments which could be made, but they are certainly promoted by the people at Tara Street and they believe that they would be most beneficial.
One issue which was not dealt with in the Stardust Tribunal report but which has been brought to my attention is the whole area of stress with regard to firemen. Firemen are involved in some horrendous accidents and they witness some horrendous scenes. Stress and sickness can result from their involvement in these fire-fighting services. However, at the moment there is no welfare service provided for firemen. Very often they may need counselling, having just experienced a horrific scene. This is a demand which firemen have recently made, that adequate counselling and welfare facilities should be made available. Unfortunately, when a fireman comes home from a fire he cannot really discuss what he has just seen with his family and very often he could be under tremendous stress as a result. I would ask the Minister to look at that issue and perhaps some sort of welfare service could be established. I am mainly concerned with Tara Street and that is where this demand has come from but I suppose it could also be established on a national basis. It would help to alleviate the amount of sickness in the fire service caused by stress and tension.
I also believe it would be helpful in relation to Tara Street to create a post of public relations officer. Unfortunately the situation at the moment is that Dublin Corporation's PRO, Noel Carroll, handles all media activities in relation to the fire brigade and perhaps that office is slightly removed from the day-to-day activities of the fire brigade. At the moment what we are seeing are unnamed spokespeople in the media making statements about the position on the ground. I believe the establishment of an office of PRO at Tara Street would be helpful and beneficial for the public.
One last major issue which was dealt with in the Stardust Tribunal Report was the actual building at Tara Street. Again, there is no cause for alarm, but certainly the long-term situation would dictate that that building be radically refurbished or replaced. It is doing its service at the moment but there is general agreement that for the future if Tara Street is to function effectively a new building with the latest modern equipment, computerisation and so forth would be extremely desirable. For the long term that situation should be looked at.
I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for giving me this opportunity to raise this issue. As I said in my introduction, this week marks the eighth anniversary of the Stardust fire. These issues are topical and I think the public now would very much welcome a comment from the Minister in relation to the Stardust Tribunal report and the issues that were raised in it and an outline of where he sees the situation going from here.
