270. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to report on the progress of the Fire Service Capital Programme 2021-2025, with direct reference to delivery to date of the expenditure outlined in tables 2-4 inclusive, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38820/24]

The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Act 1981. My Department supports the fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding for priority infrastructural projects.

In December 2020, I announced the Fire Services Capital Programme for the period 2021-2025, with a funding allocation of €61m. Following extensive engagement with fire authorities, a number of proposals for station works etc. were received. The proposals were evaluated and prioritised on the basis of the:

• Area Risk Categorisation of the fire station (population, fire risks, etc.);

• established Health and Safety needs;

• state of development of the project (suitable site acquired, etc.);

• value for money offered by the proposal; and

• the totality of requests from all authorities.

The 2021 - 2025 Programme was projected to see six new fire stations built, continued support for the construction of a further 12 new fire stations, nine fire station refurbishments as well as the allocation of 35 new fire appliances.

Continued investment in the fire appliance fleet has been identified as a key national priority that is why, in October 2023, I announced the allocation of an additional 40 new fire appliances at a cost of €20.8m.

Following an annual review of the Fire Services Capital Programme additional fire station projects at Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, Stradbally Co. Laois and Clara Co. Offaly were subsequently added.

To date, the Fire Services Programme 2021 – 2025 has supported fire services with €64.6 million in funding and is profiling an additional €15.6 million in funding to year end 2024, providing additional levels of funding to maximise support for Fire Services.

The details below outline the requested updates per table,

Table 2 Proposed New Build Fire Stations

Table 3 Fire Stations to be Upgraded/Refurbished

Table 4 Fire Appliance Applications (Class B Appliances)