Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 13 Jun 2023

Tanaiste, Taoiseach, As I speak, retained firefighters are on strike. Rolling work stoppages will see half of fire stations in the service shut and this will be followed by an all-out strike action next week outside of emergency calls. The strike is unprecedented and it certainly has not been undertaken lightly. Retained firefighters have been pushed to the very brink by government and they feel that they have been left with no choice. They are the very best of our communities. They do their jobs under incredibly difficult circumstances, acting as first responders at scenes that most of us could never even imagine saving lives, often putting their own lives on the line. Their work is essential, it is highly skilled, it is life-saving and it is totally undervalued by this government. So, retired firefighters are at their wits end. They are on call 24-7, 50 weeks of the year. They are underpaid, overstretched and feel totally let down. For years they have urged the government to deliver a proper plan to ensure that they have safe working conditions and fair pay. But the government has buried its head in the sand. Fire services should be a basic public service that communities can rely on, not an optional luxury. But years of underinvestment and failure to plan by government have seen these services run into the ground and there is now clearly a recruitment and a retention crisis. Staff shortages are worryingly common and unions warn that staff levels are often dangerously low. Indeed, some fire authorities have been forced to temporarily close stations due to unsafe staffing levels. And there is a real risk that all of this could get worse. Government's most recent review revealed that 58% of current retained firefighters warned they were likely to leave the service within the next three years, forced to give up a job they love because they cannot continue. Negotiations with the firefighters' representatives have been insufficient and in any event have broken down. Negotiations with the parkingfronted and they can handle them, leaving theно-th 첫 accomplices. Negotiations with the Pá Cóthram, and we will be able to solve this problem. Sinn Féin has brought forward solutions to resolve this matter, and tonight our proposals come before the Dáil. Our plan urges the Government to engage in proper good-faith negotiations with representatives of the retained firefighters to address their concerns without delay and to prevent any further escalation of industrial action. This needs to happen urgently. Our plan empowers the Government to bring forward a financial investment package to ensure the service gets the funding and the resourcing that it needs. This would allow for the creation of a system with safe staffing levels. So, Taoiseach, I want to ask you, will you stand with our firefighters? Will you back Sinn Féin's plan to support the retained fire services, and will you support our motion tonight? Thank you very much, Deputy. At the outset, I wanted on behalf of the Government to express our shock and horror at the events in Nottingham today. We do not know the details yet. Only a certain amount of information is available, but it is clear that there have been fatalities and a number of injuries, and we extend our condolences to those who have had loved ones or friends killed, and our best wishes to those who have been injured for a speedy recovery. We will be in touch with the British authorities today to offer any assistance we can give and, of course, our solidarity. In relation to the matter that the Deputy raises, I just wanted to say that the Government values the work of our attained firefighters, they are highly committed front-line responders, providing an exceptional service in their communities across the State. We know that their terms and conditions need to improve, and we are committed to making that happen. The Government has been working on this issue for a number of months now. There have been negotiations and significant progress has been made with the proposal made to the Union SIP2, which included a 20 per cent increase in staffing and elements of rebalancing of pay with structured time off and more flexible working arrangements. This would all fall within the scope of building momentum. This is the public sector pay agreement that both unions and Government are committed to, and both sides must honour. So I do hope that the two sides can re-engage to resolve the dispute. The Offices of the Government are available to intervene. The Workplace Relations Commission would be the first port of call in that regard. My message to the public is that emergency contingencies are in place, and that any emergency calls with respect to fire will be answered to. In the last few days, it is on the service of the Friberu, in the last few days, and I hope that the Friberu will be the first port of the Friberu is the first port of the Friberu. David MacDonald. Thank you. As you well know, the discussions broke down on May 11. You know and you have acknowledged that the retained firefighters are indeed under pressure. As I said earlier, they are on call 24-7. They can't move further than a radius of 2.5 kilometres without sanction. They make very considerable personal sacrifices and their fixed salary starts at the huge sum of €8,500 per annum. There has to be movement on that Taoiseach and I think you have to bring more than hope to the table or more than passing the book. I think it is absolutely essential that there is meaningful engagement here. There can be no further delay. I know that the Minister's department has had some limited contact now with union representatives with Taoiseach. We need to see that stepped up. Positive comments that might be made here on the floor of the Dáil are all well and good, but what we need is a proper, realistic offer that rewards these essential frontline workers for the life-saving tasks that they undertake. Thank you, Deputy. I agree with you in terms of getting back around to the negotiating table. What will you concretely do as head of government to make sure that good-faith negotiations will resume without further delay? Mr. Taoiseach? Mr. Deputy. Just back in January, Minister O'Brien brought an independent report to Cabinet on the Retained Fire Service and we accepted the recommendations of that report. The negotiations were ongoing, up until a few weeks ago, and a third-party negotiator, Mr. Olton Courtney, was appointed to chair those talks. An offer was made which would involve a 20% increase in staffing with the minimum of 12 firefighters in all fire stations, a structured time off, recognising the need for proper work-life balance, individual flexibility with regard to availability, 50 additional promotional positions, and also flexibility to attend calls when scheduled on leave if desired. There is an outstanding issue, and that relates to core pay, and the difficulty that arises is that we have an agreement with the trade unions as a whole on public sector pay. It is called Building Momentum, and we are going to honour that agreement, and it is only reasonable that we should expect, the union side, to honour that agreement as well. But there is room for talks, there is room for compromise, there is the capacity for intervention, and the offer is there to allow talks to resume, and to do so under the offices of the WRC, which is the government body that intervenes in disputes such as this. Thank you, Taoiseach. Deputy Holly.