·         Presentation by Mr. John Keane, Chief Fire Officer.

Mr. John Keane, Chief Fire Officer presented a report on Roscommon County Council Fire Services – Operations Risk Management Review and Area Risk Assessment:

·         The national and local framework for delivering the operational fire service in the county

·         Roscommon is unique in that it is surrounded by 7 counties, all supplying service to the county through their 13 adjacent stations 

·         30% of all calls in county Roscommon are attended to by fire brigades from other counties

·         Building Control is an increasing part of the work of the fire service and one new construction site has commenced each working day in the county in the past year.

·         The risk management approach for the fire service is based on identifying hazards, mitigating risks, planning and preparing to deal with risk, responding to events and reviewing events.

·         The traditional fire station area is selected as the basic unit of analysis for the review.

·         Analysis of the fire station activity show how fire risks relate to population covered and travel time from station to incidents. This informs how fire service resources are deployed in relation to the risk category of each area.

·         Our fire services are benchmarked against national standards and norms

·         The area of first response is known as the fire station ground and is assigned a risk category grading in five categories from very low to very high.

·         Incident types are classified as Primary, Secondary and Tertiary depending on the situation involved.

·         Pre-Determined Attendances (PDA) describes the response capacity to all incidents depending on type of incident and the appliances that should be mobilised. This is a national standard and applied to the resources available in County Roscommon.

·         The risk categorisation is applied to populations, demand/need, incident rates, individual/special hazards to designate Area Risk.

·         Data was collected from all incidents for the past three years and applied to the Roscommon, Castlerea, Ballaghaderreen, Boyle, Elphin, Strokestown, Ballinasloe, Athlone/Monksland Fire Area Grounds applicable to county Roscommon. The data was independently gathered and collated by CAMP West including travel times, locations and type of incidents.

·         Travel times forms a critical part of the analysis and have been found to be well within national standards

·         It should be noted that from 2007 to 2019 Roscommon fire service alerts have shown a continuous reduction - from 673 to 286 in this period.

Mr. Shane Tiernan, Director of Services informed the members that there is a significant level of analysis in the report presented by the CFO. It was independently peer reviewed by Mr. Pat Fleming, retired Chief Fire Officer of Dublin Fire Brigade and former Department Fire advisor.

He made the following points:

·         County Roscommon is currently covered by five Roscommon Fire Stations and thirteen neighbouring Fire Stations thus ensuring a very comprehensive efficient and effective fire service response.

·         Fire incidents have decreased by 50% over the past 12 years

·         The independent peer review confirmed that the appropriate methodology was used to assess the service provided over the past three years and in determining the area risk categorisation for each fire ground in the county.

·         With regard to the Castlerea fire ground, the current response being provided supports the conclusion that the risks are being managed effectively.

The Chief Executive stated the following:

·         Any decision made in relation to Fire Services is solely based on a detailed analysis of the solid facts and figures.

·         Following a Notice of Motion from the elected members at the December 2019 Plenary meeting, a review of the fire services provided in County Roscommon was completed and peer reviewed.

·         Under the Fire Services Act of 1981, as amended, County Roscommon has an efficient and effective fire service. The report shows county Roscommon is served by a total of eighteen fire stations and from 2017 to 2019; 30% of the incidents attended to in Roscommon were from stations in adjoining counties and travel times continue to meet national standards. As building standards have improved, fire brigade calls are continuously reducing.

·         The fire station was closed in Castlerea three and a half years ago because of a safety issue only and six fire fighters have remained on the payroll since. The fire station in Castlerea will not be reopening informed by the fact that since 2017 the area has been covered effectively and all incidents were responded to within nationally agreed standards.

Cllrs Fitzmaurice, Leyden, Mulligan, Shanagher, Waldron and Callaghan all spoke on the matter where in summary they stated the following:

·         Very disappointed with the news for the town of Castlerea, one of the largest in the county. Issues with regard to the station should have been dealt with and the station reopened some time ago.

·         Parts of the Castlerea area are the furthest away from a fire station in comparison to the rest of the county.

·         It is not acceptable that fire station will not reopen in Castlerea and there are no facts in the report specific to Castlerea to support this decision

·         Facilities such as the Castlerea Prison, Harmac Industries and other factories, Clonalis House will have no fire service close by.

·         Under S26 of Fire Services Act, the Chief Executive does not have the power to close the station – such decisions are reserved functions.

·         Facts and figures may be important but the people of Castlerea will suffer

·         This report should have been made available to elected members last week.

·         The Council executive must speak to the prison authorities if they haven’t already done so.

·         The report is overshadowed by the news that the Castlerea Fire Station is not reopening – there is an onerous responsibility on Roscommon County Council to reassure the people of Castlerea that their town is adequately served by fire services.

The Chief Executive responded as follows:

·         There is an efficient fire service in the Castlerea area and this is based on three and a half years of solid data. There are 14,500 people in South Roscommon with no in-county Fire Station and they also have an efficient service. There are five stations servicing the Castlerea area and this has nothing to do with staff.

·         Any questions in this matter can be directed in writing to the Director of Services or Chief Fire Officer

·         As the Chief Executive, I am well aware of my functions, duties and responsibilities in the provision of fire services in the county of Roscommon and the relevant law in this matter. As the one person in the chamber who must bear the risk and responsibility in relation to the delivery of an efficient and effective Fire Service, I am well briefed on the Fire Services Acts and my responsibilities. I made this decision based on the facts as have been outlined in detail in the report presented to the members today which confirms that there is an efficient and effective Fire Service in county Roscommon.

It was then proposed by Cllr. Mulligan that a vote be taken by the Council. The Cathaoirleach confirmed that he was entitled to have a vote taken but it would have no standing in relation to the decision. As was no seconder for the proposal, the discussion on the item then concluded.