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IFESA CALLS ON MINISTER ALAN KELLY TO INTERVENE TO PROTECT CITIZENS OF DUBLIN FROM DECISION OF CITY MANAGERS ON FUTURE OF DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE AMBULANCE SERVICE

The Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association (IFESA) said today (Tuesday) the key to solving the issues with the ambulance services in Dublin was not in the amalgamation of the Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) and HSE National Ambulance Service (NAS)control centres but in the establishment of a national integrated fire and ambulance service.

IFESA President, John Kidd said confidence in the fire and ambulance services in Dublin would be completely undermined if control for the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service was transferred to the HSE ' s National Ambulance Service. He said IFESA welcomed the recent assurances from Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar that no changes would take place in the current arrangements until there was full consultation with all stakeholders, but City Manager Owen Keegan seemed intent on ignoring those commitments from the Minister.

IFESA Statement: CUTS IN MANNING LEVELS AND ROSTER CHANGES WILL UNDERMINE QUALITY AND SAFETY OF RETAINED FIRE SERVICE NATIONALLY

The Irish Fire and Emergency Service Association (IFESA) today (Thursday 29 th Jan ) expressed serious concerns at proposed reductions in the manning levels and changed rostering arrangements of Retained Firefighter crews being adopted by Chief Fire Officers throughout the country as part of the implementation of the Department of Environment Community and Local Government's ‘Keep Communities Safe' (KCS) policy.

IFESA said the implementation of the new guidelines (Good Practice Note 2.6) issued by the NDEFM in December 2014 and endorsed by the National Director for Fire and Emergency Management will mean that the weight of response to Fire Service incidents in Ireland will now be at danger levels both to the public but also to the Safety of Retained Firefighters that arrive on the scene. IFESA said it totally rejects the justification by the National Director to Chief Fire Officers and County Mangers throughout the country that these manning and roster changes are in the public interest.