Pay rise demanded for fire fighters

Cavan councillors are demanding better pay and conditions for retained fire-fighters, both locally and nationally.

“Our retained fire-fighters are the backbone of fire-fighters in this country,” stated Sinn Féin’s Paddy McDonald, noting that they provide a “top-class service” within each county.

However, he said that the service is experiencing “great difficulty” recruiting and retaining fire-fighters. In Cavan a recent recruitment drive saw “no applicants” at three out of 10 local stations for posts advertised.

Cllr McDonald and Cathaoirleach John Paul Feeley both had motions on the agenda of the December monthly meeting to discuss the issue.

“Retained fire fighters just don’t attend fires, they also attend road traffic collisions, ambulance assist, chemical spills, storm-related incidents, floods and trees down, together with many other instances when people are desperate for help and assistance,” said Cllr McDonald.

“They deal with situations that most people could not comprehend. The day that the retained fire-fighter is handed his alerter is the day that his family joins as well. What I mean by that is that they are on call, 24 hours per day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year with the exception of 28 days’ holidays. Hence, during family outings, they are on call and may have to leave at any time.”

The Bailieborough local representative highlighted a recent survey, which found that 58% will leave the service within the next three years, and only 20% “feel adequately compensated” for their role as a retained fire-fighter.

“These are figures obtained from the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management. These are very worrying figures and a cry for help from the national retained fire service of Ireland,” said Cllr McDonald.

Of the recent recruitment drive, Cllr McDonald stated: “It is all very good having the nice shiny new appliances and up to date stations but, if we have not got the fire-fighters to man these stations throughout the country, then the public are in big trouble.”

He added that a number of fire-fighters in Cavan had contacted him directly in relation to what is going on within the service.

“Fire-fighters are always there to help us and our families, they are now looking for our help, so I put this proposal to be supported by CCC.”

He called on the council to honour fire-fighters who had received awards for 40, 30 and 20 years of service and following that said: “We need to have a major increase in the rate of pay for retained fire-fighters in order to make it more attractive to new recruits. Otherwise the whole service will deteriorate throughout the county.

“There are issues with the failure of management to take seriously fire-fighters’ concerns about the provision of proper training, consultation and the supervision in the use of new technologies. That is in breach of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005,” concluded Cllr McDonald highlighting the words of Dave Carroll, the former head of the Chief Fire Officers Association, who in 2018 claimed the retained fire-service was ‘not fit for purpose’.

“Matters have grown even worse since then. The cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated the issue and many retained fire-fighters have been forced to take up full-time employment. The job is not sufficiently paid to consider it full-time employment.

“The reason the fire-fighters are looking for better pay is if they go to any of the lending institutions they cannot get a mortgage. This is because the lenders are only looking at the retainer they are being paid, which is a very small portion of their pay. The pay is made up of call outs, training, special services etc. Lending institutions will not take on board potential earnings, which the fire fighters are depending on. This is very unfair as it is blocking them from availing of mortgages, loans etc on money they earn over the year.”

Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, John Paul Feeley, agreed there were issues that needed addressing and it was worth making note of these concerns and forwarding them to the Minister for Housing and Local Government Darragh O’Brien.

He welcomed recent investments in infrastructure in the county, such as new appliances in Kingscourt and Virginia, the latter of which has a new fire station, and similarly with Ballyjamesduff.

“There are issues nationally regarding the retention of staff. It is not a unique problem,” said the Fianna Fáil representative.

He said one issue was getting people who met the required “criteria”.

“This chamber always supports our fire service and have lobbied for improved facilities.”

Fine Gael’s Trevor Smith also supported the comments.