Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 April 2015
242. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management will publish the risk assessment associated with the keeping communities safe document. [13845/15]
View answerI assume the Question relates to the Reports on the "Area Risk Categorisation" process as outlined in Chapter 7 of “Keeping Communities Safe” (KCS).
I can confirm that fire service management in all 27 fire services have prepared Area Risk Categorisations (ARCs) in accordance with KCS. These are local documents, reflecting the local view of fire risk as determined by local fire service management, and evidenced by extensive data sets. These have been developed by each of the local authorities, and issues regarding their publication are a matter for the local authorities themselves. I anticipate that local authorities will make this first round of their ARCs available to interested parties in due course.
I can confirm that a two-person “External Validation Group” was tasked to visit all 27 fire services, with a view to ensuring that each service's ARC is consistent with the process recommended in the KCS document. The External Validation Group has completed their programme of visits to all 27 fire services and I expect to publish the Group's report by the end of Q2 2015.
