Time. It’s a precious commodity, and it waits for no one. When lives are on the line, seconds count. Fractions of seconds count.
Few individuals in our lives better understand the importance of time than the men and women of the Irish Fire Service, highly qualified public servants, trained to handle crises affecting both people and property – often simultaneously.
But now they face another danger - the danger of shortfalls in funding for their service, with shortfalls of up to 5 million euro for Dublin Fire Brigade alone. These cuts may put the lives of fire fighters – and those of the communities they protect - at risk. By some estimates, a 35 million euro shortfall now exists in the running of the fire services.
Mr John Kidd from the Irish Fire & Emergency Service Association warns of this crisis that faces the Irish Fire Service.
“As a trained fire fighter/paramedic, I can see the effects that shortfalls in funding on service delivery will bring to the Irish Fire Service,” said Mr Kidd. “All I have to do is look across the water to the UK, where fire fighter deaths from 1996 to 2002 were zero, and on the implementation of so-called modernisation and cuts / new work practices in 2002, they saw the death toll of fire fighters from 2002 to 2009 go to over twenty. This is what awaits Irish fire fighters, as Local Authorities try and implement so called ‘improvements to the service’ to reflect what the UK fire service does.”
Mr Kidd said that the spirt of the Croke Park Agreement was to deliver a better public service to the citizens of Ireland. However, he said “there are certain services that public servants deliver that need to be protected, and their financing ring fenced.”
Local councillors from the Local Authorities have voted on these budget reductions last year and they will do so again in the coming months. Mr Kidd said the IFESA is asking whether the councillors really understand what the implications will be for their constituencies.
“Their community that voted them in, they are playing with the lives of their electorate. Only time will tell,” said Mr Kidd.
The Irish Fire & Emergency Services Association has called for the establishment of a National Fire & Ambulance service in Ireland that would deliver a fire-based emergency medical service to the citizens of Ireland. This, they say, would provide a cost effective measure for the mobilisation of life-saving treatment to citizens who require it. This system would save lives and, with A&E departments closing down around the country, the IFESA says that Irish fire fighters are strategically placed to respond to life-threatening calls and provide life-saving interventions to the citizens of Ireland.
Mr Kidd said that in October 2007, Mr Eamon Gilmore of Labour supported the nationalisation of the Irish Fire Services, and called on the then government to implement change.
“We now urgently need a National Fire Authority that will provide enhanced protection against fire, better training and equipment for all personnel, and ensure a consistent level of service across the country,” he said.
“In a modern society, speed of reaction is crucial to a fire alert. The time it takes for a brigade to reach a fire can literally mean the differences between life and death,” said Mr Kidd, who criticised the failure of successive governments to implement expert reports that recommended the establishment of a National Fire Authority.
“With Local Authorities budgets being slashed, they are rapidly running out of money around the country. Local Authorities cannot support the running of an Emergency Fire Service. The IFESA supports the call from certain County & City managers for the nationalisation of the Irish Fire Service,” he said.
“Has the government washed their hands of the problems in the Irish Fire Service? It certainly seems so,” he said.
“Do we need another tragic event such as The Noyeks fire in Parnell St, Dublin in March 1972 that killed eight people; the fire in the Central Hotel, Bundoran in August 1980, which killed ten people, including five children, or even another Stardust disaster, that took the lives of 49 young people on St Valentines Night, 1981?” asked Mr Kidd.
“The Irish Fire & Emergency Services Association is afraid that this is what it is going to take for people to take notice.”
