asked the Minister for the Environment the numbers of (a) technical and (b) administrative personnel in his Department who were assigned on a full-time basis to the area of fire prevention and fire fighting on 31st January, 1981; and whether any of these posts were vacant at that date.

The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the Fire Services Section of my Department is as follows — four technical, three administrative, six executive and three clerical staff were specifically assigned on a full-time basis. One technical officer was absent on 31 January 1981 while attending a post-graduate MSc degree course in Fire Safety Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. In addition to the foregoing, staff in other sections of my Department are engaged part-time on work relating to fire safety. For example, staff in the personnel area have overall responsibility for personnel aspects of the fire service; staff in the housing and planning areas have an input on such matters as building regulations, and technical officers have appropriate responsibilities on relevant engineering, architectural and planning aspects of fire safety.

Could the Minister say if one of the technical officers referred to in his reply has any responsibility for ensuring that firemen in the service throughout the country are properly trained in the use of all necessary equipment?

As I said the technical officers have appropriate responsibilities on relevant engineering, architectural and planning aspects of fire safety.

Have the technical officers in the Minister's Department any responsibility to ensure that the firemen are able to fight fires?

The responsibility is at a local level in the fire authority, the sanitary authority. My Department co-operate fully with the local authorities in maintaining an adequate fire service throughout the country.

Can the Minister ensure that if men in a certain service have not been trained in the use of certain apparatus that that training is immediately made available to them? Can the Minister's Department not ensure that?

If such an item comes to the notice of the Department immediate action is taken by the Department in communicating with the local authorities.