I should like to thank the Chair for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment. My question of 16 May, and my request to the Chair for an Adjournment Debate, arise directly from the tragedy which occurred in my constituency on 7 May last when, at 49 Clifton Drive, Bally-fermot, two young brothers, aged eight and five years, lost their lives in a domestic fire and another brother was rescued from a similar fate. That appalling tragedy was the most recent in a large number of tragedies arising out of fires in houses, flats, mobile homes and caravans. Indeed, the two deaths in Bally-fermot brought the number of children killed in fires in the last year to 16.
It is time we did something about this. In the United States, where legislation has resulted in smoke detectors being fitted in four out of five homes, domestic fire deaths have been almost halved. In Britain a recent report of the National Housing and Town Planning Authority estimates that more than 300 lives would be saved each year by the installation of smoke detectors. On 16 May I tabled the following question to the Minister for the Environment, "... asked the Minister for the Environment whether he will introduce legislation to make it compulsory for local authorities to fit smoke detectors in all public authority houses in order to reduce the intolerably high incidence of deaths resulting from house fires; and if he will make a statement on the matter." In his reply the Minister referred me to the provisions in the Building Control Act which would enable regulations to be made requiring fire alarms to be provided in new buildings; he should speedily introduce those regulations. He also referred to his advocacy for the installation of smoke detectors and publicity campaigns to highlight their advantage. I am sure he will say the same thing today in his reply.
In advance of the Minister's reply I should like to say that his response on the last occasion was not good enough. Not enough people have heeded him; something much more is required if more tragedies are to be avoided. Those most at risk are not installing alarms and are not being properly targeted by the publicity campaigns. In Britain it has been estimated that home owners are three times more likely to have a smoke alarm than local authority tenants. Pensioners and poor families are only half as likely to have a smoke detector installed as the national average.
I have no reason to think that the position is any better here than it is in Britain. In all probability the position is worse. The number of smoke alarms in privately rented accommodation, such as student flats, must be very small indeed. I shudder to think what the position is in mobile homes and caravans, particularly when they are occupied by disadvantaged groups such as travellers. I hate to think what it is like in the majority of flats where students are accommodated. My attention has been drawn to a letter in The Irish Times of 9 May last from Una Hoey. She stated:
Sir, — I am writing to express my concern — and worry — about rented accommodation in Dublin.
Two of my sons are sharing a top floor flat in a four-storey building. There is no fire escape, no smoke alarms and no materials for fire prevention on any of the landings. I wonder how many young people are at risk in similar accommodation.
I hope that all TDs, the fire service, ministers of religion and any others in positions of authority who read this letter will do something about this dangerous situation.
I do not find those comments surprising. It is many years since I was a student living in student accommodation and I do not think things have improved all that much since. When I look back I shudder when I think of the risks that so many of us students took. Like other Members I have a daughter living in student accommodation. The accommodation some of them are living in is so hazardous that we should not sleep at night worrying about them. Of course, my proposal would extend to student accommodation.
Legislation requiring smoke detectors in every home is the only effective way to save lives. What I am proposing in relation to public authority housing, and new housing, is only an initial step which can be introduced quickly. We should then proceed to ensure that smoke alarms are compulsory for all types of accommodation. If they are not made compulsory experience teaches us they will not be installed. We already have the highest percentage of domestic fire outbreaks in the developed world, according to Tom McDonald, Chairman of the Chief Fire Officers Association at their recent annual conference. He went on to say that because of the use of polyurethane foam-based furniture fires develop much more rapidly and produce more heat and toxic gases than they used. In addition to the installation of smoke detectors that problem must also be effectively tackled. I suspect that that problem is increasing pretty rapidly and that as a result the danger of more tragedies is increasing daily.
I urge the Minister to give a lead in this matter, particularly in the interest of the young, the old and the less fortunate members of the community who are most at risk and to whom the message of the necessity for smoke detectors is not getting through. Those people would be afraid of the cost of smoke detectors despite the fact that some of them can be installed for as little as £4. If the Minister had seen, like I did when I attended the funeral of my two young constituents in Ballyfermot, the agony and suffering on the faces of the parents he would not hesitate for one moment to do anything which would help prevent such tragedies. I appeal to him to take this action, which would be relatively easy to do. It is not a costly operation which would strain the finances of the Government. I urge the Minister to give a lead in this matter to the local authorities, house builders and the community at large. That lead would be much more effective than any publicity campaign he would organise.
