Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 April 2018
340. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if funding will be provided for Dublin Fire Brigade to purchase new ladders that can reach up to 42 m in height; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17143/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe provision of fire services in local authority areas, including the establishment and maintenance of fire brigades, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of premises, is a statutory function of the individual fire authorities under the provisions of the Fire Services Acts, 1981 and 2003.
My Department supports the fire authorities through setting national policy, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding, including recoupment (within the overall funding available) of costs incurred by fire authorities in relation to the approved purchase of fire appliances and emergency equipment, as well as construction and upgrading of fire stations.
Dublin City Council provides fire services on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities. My Department has recently received an update report from Dublin City Council in relation to its fire appliance fleet and will liaise with the Council in relation to determining priority projects for financial support in the years ahead. Continued investment in the fire appliance fleet is one of the key national priorities for the Fire Services Capital Programme.
My Department announced a new national joint-procurement programme in 2017 to purchase 20 new fire appliances, under which Dublin City Council's Fire Service received an allocation of three new ‘Class B’ appliances. In 2015 under a similar programme, Dublin's Fire Service were also allocated three ‘Class B’ appliances. They requested and received approval to substitute the cost of one of those appliances to purchase a pre-used turntable ladder. In addition to these, since 2008, my Department has also funded four ‘Class B’ appliances and one turntable ladder for Dublin.
Management of the number, type and age profile of fire appliances is a matter for each of the fire authorities. In the assessment of their fire cover needs, including the provision and management of a fleet adequate to their requirements, fire service management use evidence based on multi-annual data of actual fires in determining fire station area risk categorisations and have regard to standards set out in the national policy document “Keeping Communities Safe” for benchmarking their services. My Department also includes the area risk categorisation process in determining priority projects for financial support.
All requests for funding from my Department's Fire Services Capital Programme will be considered within the constraints of available resources and will have regard to local authorities' priorities, the value for money offered by proposals and the totality of requests from fire authorities.
