Retained fire service pay dispute
Deputy McGrath highlighted the low pay and strict on-call conditions faced by retained fire officers, warning of an impending strike. The Minister said he had commissioned a review, the Government had accepted its recommendations, and he wanted the remaining issues resolved within the State system.
The Minister has answered some questions today about the fire services. Whole-time retained fire officers earn only some €700 per month, which equates to 99 cent per hour. They are on call 24-7, 365 days of the year. They must stay within 3 km or five minutes of the station. They must do eight weeks of compulsory training in the first year. The Minister made a lot of promises to these people but now he is hiding from them. They are going on strike next week. The Minister said the Cabinet has signed off on a report he commissioned. Twenty-two years ago, Noel Dempsey, as Minister, said the fire service was in a crisis state. It is in a huge crisis now.
The Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, is giving two fingers to the Government. Who is in charge here? Is it the Government or the LGMA, which is refusing to go into meaningful negotiations? Less than €50 million would sort out this whole problem. It must be resolved out of respect for the people who save lives and put their own lives on the line every day of the week. I met a group of them last night in Bray, County Wicklow. We all remember what happened there some years ago.
Comment on this
Noel Dempsey, a ministerial colleague of the Tánaiste 22 years ago, said at the time that there was a crisis. It is time for the Minister to act and to make the LGMA toe the line.
Comment on this
I am glad the Deputy and others have raised this matter, which shows the importance of the retained fire services. I commissioned the review to which the Deputy referred and the Government has accepted its 13 recommendations. We have been working with all stakeholders to move the process forward. We are very close to achieving that. The best place for any of the outstanding issues to be resolved is within the existing infrastructure of the State. I ask the retained fire service representatives to take that on board. As is their right, they have served notice of industrial action. I do not want to escalate the matter any further. Suffice it to say that I, as Minister, want this resolved. We have come a long way on pay, conditions and rostering. In fairness, the union representatives recognise that too. There are some outstanding issues that can and, I hope, will be resolved.