Dublin Fire Brigade service suffers staff shortage issue and in urgent need of at least 60 firefighters, says report.
Currently, the agreed number of fire personnel for staffing Dublin’s Fire Brigade service is 965, which forms part of an agreement reached in the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) back in 2015.
However, there are only 930 currently working in the service with a further 35 in training who will not be available until January. With the new recruits being unavailable until January, the shortages are likely to prevail for the rest of 2021.
According to a report in The Irish Times, Labour Union, SIPTU has claimed that said the crisis situation “is a direct consequence of the senior management in Dublin City Council and Dublin Fire Brigade not having a proper plan in place for the recruitment of firefighters.”SIPTU has called for the minimum number of staff to be increased from 965 to meet demand.
Labour Senator Marie Sherlock is calling for better workforce planning within the service. She said, “There is a very serious situation brewing within the Dublin Fire Brigade service which has not been properly resourced in terms of workforce or indeed in terms of physical equipment. Right throughout the summer, we’ve had reports that up to five fire engines per day could not be deployed due to a lack of staffing.”
“This is hugely worrying for the communities that the Brigade service, as well as staff who are totally under-resourced. There can be up to 30 calls queued at any point in time. If there was a critical incident in the city, the capacity of both the fire services and the ambulances services may not be able to respond,” she was quoted by DublinLive.
On the other hand, Dublin City Council (DCC) and Dublin Fire Brigade management have recently said they are continuing to engage with the unions through a conciliation process. An agreement is expected to happen soon.
Meanwhile, Appliances have been left off the road and in some cases operating without the required level of staff. Recently, on Sept 27, six appliances were left off the road in Rathfarnham, Dun Laoghaire, North Strand, Phibsborough and Tara Street.
The same day, nine appliances operated without the required level of staff – seven appliances were short-staffed by one firefighter and the other two appliances were down by two staff members each. The staff shortages have also affected the response time of the emergency service.
Independent Councillor Noeleen Reilly also raised concerns. “It is very concerning to learn that a number of fire appliances are off the road today due to staff shortages as well as many others operating under the required staffing levels. This is not only putting the safety of firefighters at risk but the general public. The Dublin Fire Brigade has been calling for some time for increased staffing levels and an improvement to working conditions to enhance recruitment into the service,” she said.