302 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the progress to date on the recommendations made to his Department in July 2005 by the national retained firefighters association regarding personal injury to retained firefighters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10639/07]

Revisions to the Group Personal Accident Policy which covers retained fire fighters were agreed in discussions between the Local Government Management Services Board and SIPTU in June 2005. Any changes to insurance cover for retained fire fighters would be a matter for discussion with the Board.

More generally, over the last two years, significant attention has been paid to safety, health and welfare enhancement in the fire service as part of the Fires Service Change Programme led by my Department. A new incident command system, critical incident stress management services and an annually safety statement have been developed to enhance the safety of firefighters.