Part time fire fighters must always be in a position to respond quickly to emergencies in cases where full time staff are already out on call, but this ability is currently under threat.
This is the view of Fine Gael Galway West TD Brian Walsh who was commenting on new plans which propose to reverse the criteria which govern when part-time fire fighters are available for service at Galway Fire Station.
Dep Walsh has called the plans “a retrograde step which will seriously compromise public safety” and he wants to see the proposals abandoned.
At present, if full time fire fighters are engaged on duty outside of a 2.5 mile radius of the station the part time staff are immediately contacted to report for duty at the Claddagh Site. However, the chief fire officer has recently announced plans to increase this radius to five miles.
“I am advised that this change is being introduced locally as a cost saving exercise,” said Dep Walsh. “However the limited savings which would arise as a result of this should be sought in other areas of the fire service.”
Dep Walsh has written to the chief fire officer and to both the city and county managers, to outline his opposition to the introduction of this measure.
If the fire services proceeds with this change, Dep Walsh will be calling on the Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan to carry out an independent review of budgets at Galway Fire Services to identify if this money can be saved in other areas of the service.
