Sinn Féin have tabled an emergency motion for tonight’s Dublin City Council meeting to address the growing crisis surrounding staffing shortages in Dublin Fire Brigade.
Amid the crisis, 12 fire appliances were off the road on New Year’s Eve due to lack of personnel.
Speaking this afternoon, Sinn Féin leader on Dublin City Council, Cllr. Daithí Doolan said:
“Dublin Fire Brigade’s staffing crisis continues to worsen. On December 31st 12 fire appliances were off the road because there was not enough personnel to staff them. Fire stations across Dublin were without fire engines, ambulances and rescue trucks.
“The staffing crisis is putting the service under extreme pressure. There are currently 965 fire fighters in Dublin Fire Brigade. Standards dictate that this number should be over 1,000. Dublin Fire Brigade now depends on overtime to keep the service functioning. This is putting the lives of fire fighters and the public they serve at risk.
“Management need to realise how serious this crisis is and work with unions to resolve it as a matter of urgency. Recruitment needs to be a priority. But in the meantime there are 80 people on the staff panel waiting to be trained and employed. There are a further 300 applicants waiting to be interviewed. The solution to the crisis is obvious, it just requires management to take action.
“I have tabled an emergency motion for tonight’s Dublin City Council meeting. It calls on City Council’s Chief Executive to engage directly with the unions to put in place a process that addresses this staffing shortage as a matter of urgency.
“We also call on the Lord Mayor to write to Minister for Housing, Local Government, Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien and request that all resources necessary are put in place to address the funding and staffing issues.”
Emergency Motion:
That Dublin City Council expresses deep concern that on December 31st last, 12 of Dublin Fire Brigade’s fire trucks were off the road due to staffing shortages.
This is an extremely serious situation with management having put no systems in place to mitigate this level of staff shortages.
The staffing crisis is putting enormous strain on the Dublin’s fire service, it is also putting the lives of fire fighters and the public they serve at risk.
Dublin City Council calls on the Chief Executive to engage directly with the unions to put in place a process that addresses this staffing shortage as a matter of urgency.
We also call on the Lord Mayor to write to Minister for Housing, Local Government, Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien and request that all resources necessary are put in place to address the funding and staffing issues.
