Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 September 2020
53. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of call-outs from the fire brigade in relation to the illegal use of fireworks in each of the past five years by area in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24247/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 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 fire authorities under the Fire Services Act, 1981. My Department supports fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other fire safety related matters and providing capital funding support for purchase of equipment and priority infrastructural projects.
My Department collects statistics from local authorities, on an annual basis, regarding fire service attendance at incidents and the types of incident involved. Fire statistics for the past five years are available at the link below:
https://www.housing.gov.ie/local-government/fire-and-emergency-management/fire-statistics.
My Department does not routinely collect data in regard to the number of call-outs from the fire brigade in relation to the illegal use of fireworks. However, it is my understanding is that such information is not readily available as 'fireworks' is currently not listed as an individual and identifiable category of call-out by the fire services.
