Fire brigade staffing and equipment crisis must be addressed, says Doolan

Daithí Doolan, Sinn Féin Leader on Dublin City Council and European election candidate for Dublin, has said that Dublin Fire Brigade must address the serious staffing and equipment concerns raised by firefighters.

Doolan was commenting following an Oireachtas briefing by the firefighters’ trade union representatives, SIPTU, facilitated by Sinn Féin TD Paul Donnelly, after which he called on Government to provide the necessary funding, training and equipment to ensure that Dublin Fire Brigade is fully resourced at all times.

Doolan said “firefighters and their trade union SIPTU have raised serious concerns regarding staffing levels and the overreliance on equipment that is no longer fit for purpose being used by Dublin Fire Brigade.”

“Failure to address these concerns is seriously jeopardising firefighters’ ability to appropriately respond to fires and other serious incidents, and is putting their safety and that of the public at risk.”

SIPTU has outlined how staffing levels for 2025 are 100 short of where the service needs to be, and that there is no plan in place for the Public Appointment Service to run a recruitment campaign.

“Dublin Fire Brigade’s reliance on overtime to man its service is unsustainable,” Dookan said.

“The staffing crisis has been allowed to deepen, with the result being the far too regular occurrence of fire trucks and appliances being kept off the road because necessary personnel have not been available.”

“These staffing issues are exacerbated by a fleet of vehicles, many of which are no longer fit for purpose. 50% of the service’s fire trucks are at least 10 years old, and 25% are at least 15 years old.”

The meeting heard that the overreliance on old vehicles could cause was highlighted when a 20-year-old fire truck broke down en route to the scene of a fire.

“For a service where response times are key, and where every minute and second counts, a repeat of such an incident could be catastrophic and cost lives,” the meeting was told.

Doolan noted that “firefighters are exasperated” as a result of the shortages.

He relayed that one representative highlighted 40 years after the issue was highlighted in the wake of the Stardust disaster, Dublin Fire Brigade still do not have accessible data on where fire hydrants are located across the city.

“For firefighters to be left searching across streets to find fire hydrants in this day and age is astonishing and inexcusable,” he said.

“They are also deeply concerned that there has been no implementation of any of the recommendations included in the risk assessment model established following the terrifying 2018 fire at the Metro Hotel fire in Ballymun. Implementing these recommendations, and ensuring firefighters have access to data they need, could be the difference between life and death.

“In a week where the human cost and suffering of the state’s worst fire tragedy have been laid bare, it is crucially important that we ensure Dublin Fire Brigade has the necessary staffing and equipment to protect the city’s communities,” he said.