Labour Senator Marie Sherlock has raised concerns about staffing issues at Dublin Fire Brigade.
The Phibsborough Senator said that despite Dublin Fire Brigade are celebrating their 125th anniversary, they have been plagued with staffing issues in recent times.
She said that current recruitment plans fall short and do not match the demands of a functioning fire service in a modern city.
“While the training standards and facilities have evolved greatly over the decades, there is currently a lot of concern about staffing shortfalls, about the condition and age of vehicles and most significantly the failure to progress plans to undertake pre-fire intelligence plans for buildings across this city.”
“I understand that the current panel for recruitment is not sufficient to fill the next two classes expected to take place this year and that there is currently no process in place to open up a new panel. The issue of recruitment rears its head every few years and it is exceptionally frustrating that Dublin City Council does not have a comprehensive plan in place to ensure sufficient, safe staffing levels.”
She said that firefighters are facing daily shortfalls of an average of 20 staff per day and the retirement of almost a third of all its firefighters over the next two years.
“In the aftermath of Metrofire in Ballymun in 2019, serious questions were rightly raised about the future capacity and readiness of Dublin Fire Brigade to speedily deal with the growing number of high rise buildings in the city. While an organisation intelligence unit was established to undertake pre fire intelligence plans for buildings across the city, I understand there has been a stalemate on the collection of this vital information. Firefighters are understandably frustrated at the absence of this vital intelligence about water sources and the basic layout of buildings, that is available to the fire services of most other European cities.”
She called on Dublin City Council to expedite the recruitment process in advance of the current staffing shortfall getting worse and to progress the work of pre-fire surveys.
“The growth in taller buildings plus the large size of derelict and long-term vacant homes means that it is crucial that Dublin Fire Brigade is not hamstrung by a lack of information about the buildings in this city,” she said.
With the 125th anniversary of the fire service taking place, she called on Dublin residents “to celebrate the fantastic contribution fire fighters make to our city.”
“We need to protect the safety of the service and fire fighters themselves.”