Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 May 2024
371. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has carried out a review of fire personnel in Cavan or Monaghan in light of a number of battery storage facilities being granted planning permission in the counties; and if Ireland is equipped to deal with such facilities. [21384/24]
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 individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Acts, 1981 and 2003. My Department supports the fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding for equipment and priority infrastructural projects.
The prioritisation and effective management of all resources is a matter for each of the fire authorities based on their assessment of local needs and requirements. In relation to the staffing requirements in each local authority, under 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. Therefore, any review of staffing in the fire services of either Cavan or Monaghan would be a matter for the individual Chief Executive and their Chief Fire Officers.
All Fire Services in Ireland operate an Incident Command System (ICS) to ensure effective operations at the site of fire emergencies. The ICS is founded on the principles of systemic risk management. ICS details how the Incident Commander ensures safe operations at the scene of an emergency using Dynamic Risk Management to continuously evaluate and manage risk.
In February 2023, Good Practice note 5.5 “Pre-Incident Planning” (PIP) was approved by the NDFEM Board and issued to all fire services. While the majority of fire services had pre-existing pre-incident planning programmes, this guidance was developed to standardise the approach, and to support a review of existing programmes. Good Practice note 5.5 outlines that each fire station area should identify significant premises, and assess the nature and extent of issues or hazards presented to responding crews. Steps taken for pre-incident planning and for developing links between pre-incident planning, operations, training, and fire safety may include:
• identifying a premises and gathering the appropriate information;
• gathering additional and associated societal, environmental and economic data;
• integrating a risk management plan;
• preparing PIP cards – preferably in digital format, to be made available for responding crews;
• co-ordination between local fire service operations, training, and fire safety; and
• reviewing and updating PIPs, as necessary.
Site visits are undertaken by local fire officers to gather/confirm information for the preparation of a PIP card that provides a standard layout and technical summary of a premises for the crew and the Incident Commander.
If pre-incident planning identifies specific issues of concern in relation to a premises, a Chief Fire Officer may consider designating a specific pre-determined attendance, setting out the number, type and order of dispatch of fire appliances in the event of an incident.
With regard to the issue of battery storage units, I understand that the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) is in the process of developing an Electricity Storage Policy Framework; my Department is working with DECC to support this policy initiative.
