I return to the gallant men and women of our fire services. The Taoiseach should imagine what it would be like if he were bound by restrictions that prevented him from travelling beyond 3 km of his place of work or home without permission and being on call 24-7 for 48 weeks of the year. He should think about the enormous impact this would have on his life and the lives of his loved ones and family. A person would expect such an involvement would be well remunerated. Now imagine the guaranteed income for this life being around €8,000 per year, which is a pittance.

This the reality for our whole-time firefighters, who earn approximately €700 per month which equates to 99 cent per hour. Just imagine that. Would the Taoiseach take on a role that expected him to stay within 3 km of his station for 99 cent an hour? Covid has ended for most of us, thankfully, but they are still living in Covid circumstances, confined to within 3 km of their bases. It is inhuman.

This is before we mention the dangers and risks associated with their very important role. Imagine giving a commitment to that role and being unable to apply for a car loan, mortgage or any other kind of loan because of the need to supplement that income with social welfare. I heard one of our firemen from Nenagh this morning on Tipperary FM saying they are taxed on that as well. It is an outrageous situation. This is the sad reality for the brave men and women of our retained fire service.

The retained firefighters are at the coalface of every human disaster across the State. We met them recently in Bray. I know they provide an ambulance service in Dublin, but outside of Dublin they are called in to assist with cardiac arrests, accidents and everything because the ambulances are not there as they are travelling up and down the country in another failed system.

I do not have to say what our firefighters do. They save so many lives. They put their own lives and those of their families on the line. Imagine today they are forced to go out on industrial action. Some 22 years ago the former Minister Noel Dempsey promised to resolve this. That is how bad it is. Now we have almost 60% saying they will leave in the next two or three years. They are leaving like snow off a ditch because they cannot do this any more, even though they want to do it. They want to serve the people. They want to help their communities and neighbours. They cannot afford to stay. It is devastating on their family lives.

The Taoiseach is telling them to stay in negotiations and says the Government has accepted a report. It has not. The Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, is not engaging in talking. A sum of €50 million will sort this out for these gallant men and women and their families but the Government will not give it to them. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, stands up here saying we want to sort it. The Government should get around a table, take out that layer like it has for the HSE, the LGMA. It is saying it does not have the money from the Government and cannot pay them. It is the typical spin here and passing of the buck. Sort out our fire services once and for all, 22 years after those words of the then Minister Noel Dempsey. It is that long ago. It is time they got the respect they deserve.

We all acknowledge the way our retained fire services have changed down the years. There is a retainer payment and then there are call-out payments. Due to improvements in fire safety, the number of call-out payments has reduced and that needs to be reflected in changes to their terms and conditions. We acknowledge that as a Government. As I said earlier, an offer has been made which includes a 20% increase in staff with a minimum of 12 firefighters at each station, structured time off, individual flexibility with regard to availability, 50 additional promotional positions around the country and flexibility to attend calls when on scheduled leave if desired. We have a pay deal between the Government and the trade unions which involves pay increases across the board across the year. We have to honour that agreement and the union side has to honour it as well. We expect that to be done. The talks so far have not been successful but they can resume. As I said, these disputes are always resolved in the end and if needs be they can be resolved at the Workplace Relations Commission. That office of government is available to assist should both sides be willing to engage.

That answer is not satisfactory at all. The elephant in the room here seems to be the LGMA. It says it has not got the money from the Government. Cut out all the other engagements, movements and shapes that are going around. All the stations in Tipperary have staff shortages. We are three officers short in Clonmel and two short in Nenagh. Tipperary town cannot put out its second crew. There are many other small towns like that. Deputy Michael Collins is giving me cases from Skibbereen and places like that where people have to wait an hour to be attended from some other county. It is the same for all of us in rural Ireland and urban Ireland where people wait. People are not called out unless they are needed and they will come in all weathers and at all times. Even during the industrial action there is cover. I acknowledge that. They need to get fair play here. They need not to have the three-way system here where the LGMA is blaming the Government and it is blaming the LGMA and the firefighters. We need to sort this issue. It should not be insurmountable to solve it after 22 years of neglect.

The Taoiseach talks about changes and whatever went on. That is no good to them. He has the figures. Like myself and my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group, I am sure the Taoiseach has met, and has listened to, them. They need to be helped and sorted out. They do not ask often. We ask a good deal of them. Now we are asking that the Taoiseach sits up and listens, engages with them and cuts out the intermediaries that have no money to solve the deal. Some €50 million would solve the problem.

I thank the Deputy and call the Taoiseach to conclude.

I have not engaged in any blaming. The blame-game has only come from the Opposition benches today on this matter. As I said earlier, we value the work of retained firefighters. They are highly committed people in communities throughout the country who provide an exceptional service. All industrial relations disputes are resolved in the end. They are resolved by negotiations. Government is willing to engage. As is often the case, matters that cannot be resolved have to go to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, or to the Labour Court, and those offices of government are available to intervene.