Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 July 2023
420. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of retained firefighters who have departed the service annually from 2010 to date; the number of retained firefighters that have been recruited on an annual basis in the same period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34255/23]
View answer421. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware of any local authorities that refuse to employ staff who also work as retained firefighters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34256/23]
View answerThe provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Service Acts, 1981 and 2003.
My Department supports fire authorities by establishing policy, setting national standards for fire safety and fire service provision, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding for priority infrastructural projects and the procurement of essential frontline fire appliances, ancillary vehicles and equipment.
Fire services are provided in Ireland by local authorities in accordance with the provisions of the Fire Services Acts, 1981 and 2003. Under this legislation, 31 local authorities provide fire prevention and fire protection services for communities through 27 service delivery structures. Local authority fire services are delivered by approximately 3,300 local authority staff engaged at 217 fire stations nationwide, with 16 of these stations staffed by full-time firefighters, a further 4 are mixed full-time and retained, and 197 are staffed by retained firefighters.
The prioritisation of work and effective management of all resources is, in the first instance, a matter for the fire authority, based on its assessment of risk, needs and resources. In relation to the staffing requirements in each local authority, under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, it is the responsibility of each Chief Executive to employ such staff and to make such staffing, funding, recruitment and organisational arrangements as may be deemed necessary for the purposes of carrying out the functions of their local authority for which they are responsible.
The review report “Retained Fire Services in Ireland - A Review of Recruitment and Retention and the Future Sustainability of Service Delivery” published by my Department in December 2022 shows that 67% of retained firefighters surveyed hold primary employment roles, on a full or part time basis, with 7% of those, holding an alternative primary employment role within their local authority. Recommendation 10 stemming from the Retained Review report speaks directly to this issue.
The Management Board of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management within my Department will actively support local authorities in exploring avenues to implementing this recommendation.
In relation to staffing numbers that have left or been recruited to the retained fire services since 2010, my Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of overall local government sector employment levels. To this end, my Department gathers aggregate quarterly data on staff numbers in each local authority on a whole time equivalent basis. However, granular data, in terms of staff allocated to specific work areas within local authorities is not collected and consequently is not available in my Department.
The requested information would be available directly from the local authorities.
