Agenda item

Motion No. 1 in the name of Councillor Mannix Flynn:

“That this meeting of Dublin City Council calls on the Lord Mayor of Dublin to withdraw and desist from being patron of the Artane School of Music/Artane Band.”

The motion was put to a vote and was carried. Full details of the vote can be viewed in Appendix D to these minutes.

Motion No.2 in the name of Lord Mayor Allison Gilliland and seconded by Cllr. Daithí Doolan:

“Dublin City Council recognises and commends the invaluable service provided to the city, its citizens, its property and to all those who visit our city by the Dublin Fire Brigade and Ambulance Service. This service saves countless lives and reduces the physical impact of medical emergencies to individuals as well as preventing damage to property on a daily basis. Their service during the Covid 19 pandemic has been exemplary.

However, with regard to staffing levels, Dublin City Council notes with much concern that DFB is currently operating under agreed staffing levels and is increasingly depending on an over reliance on overtime by Dublin Fire Brigade staff to meet daily fire tender and ambulance operational manning levels and that, on certain watches/shifts, there are not sufficient staff available to allow for the full complement of fire tenders to be deployed. 

While Dublin City Council recognises and welcomes that there are currently 36 new recruits currently in training and that these will enter the DFB workforce in December, it also recognises that these additional recruits may not add to the current staffing numbers when all 2021 retirements are taken into consideration.

Therefore, Dublin City Council demands that i) two back to back recruit classes be scheduled immediately to exhaust the current training panel so as to alleviate this situation in a timely a manner as possible and ii) that a new panel be immediately established to allow for further recruit classed to be trained.

Dublin City Council also demands that every effort be made by both sides to reach an agreement on overall DFB operational manning levels and other outstanding issues currently being negotiated.

With regard to medical emergencies in the city, Dublin City Council recognises the three additional ambulances operationalised by DFB and funded by DCC (as opposed by the HSE) but also recognises that even with these additional ambulances the heretofore rapid response rate by DFB to medical emergencies has reduced. Dublin City Council, therefore, calls for the HSE to i) fully fund these 3 additional ambulances going forward, ii) fully fund and staff a further 2 DFB ambulances so as to allow more a more appropriate response rate by our ambulances to medical emergencies.

With regard to training, Dublin City Council recognises the essential need to ensure that all firefighters and officers are fully training in managing high rise fire and medical emergencies and calls for a full training programme to be scheduled to ensure full competencies across all watches and stations, including retained stations. 

With regard to risk assessment, Dublin City Council calls for the full implementation of the  recommendations of the Fire Safety Task Force Group Report published by the Department of Housing, Local Government and heritage (July 2018).

With regard to DFB staff well-being, Dublin City Council recognises the propensity for staff to suffer from burn-out if repeatedly working overtime to cover staff shortages and calls for i)  the provision of information to staff regarding the tell-tale signs of burn-out and ii) the provision of support for staff who may be suffering from burn-out.”  

The Lord Mayor invited the Chief Fire Officer to speak on the matter. The CFO briefed Members on the progress to date in resolving the issues highlighted in the motion. He highlighted positive movement in regards recruitment and training and the acquisition of appliances. He expressed his desire to see further efforts to resolve those issues that remain outstanding. The Members requested the CFO to circulate a written copy of his statement. 

Following contributions from representatives of all the political groups in support of the motion the motion was put and carried.