Refusal to pay Laois firefighters contrasted with €80k rise for Civil Servant by Laois TD

If money can be found to give an €80,000 pay rise given to Ireland's highest-paid civil servant then funds can also be located to pay more to retained firefighters in Laois, according to the Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley.

The Laois Offaly representative drew the comparison when addressing the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien in the Dáil. he also gave examples of the human impact on firefighters and their families in a speech.

Dep Stanley supports retained firefighters in their campaign and industrial action for better pay and conditions.

“We are taking the retained firefighters and their families for granted. The Government needs to put a realistic offer on the table. The two counties I represent, namely, Laois and Offaly, are completely dependent on retained firefighters. I met delegates yesterday from all the stations in the county and they outlined the crisis.

"This is not just the crisis of the firefighters but the crisis that exists in trying to get people into the service and keep people in it. They expressed enormous frustration at the lack of progress," he said.

The TD said he and others had tried to get the Government to act before the industrial action started. He said the model is out of date and a report given to Government confirms this.

"The retained firefighter model as constructed is no longer sustainable. On top of the recruitment crisis, the report found that 60% of the retained staff are considering leaving within the next two years. In some fire stations in Laois-Offaly, the numbers are down to five members and this is compromising staff safety,’’ he said.

He said he knows people working in the fire services who have to walk away from special family celebrations.

“Some of my friends are in the fire service and they have missed communions. I know of a member who was at a meal following his child's communion when his bleeper went off. He is in a station where there are five. Up he had to get with the suit on him so he could tog out to go fight a fire. That is not good enough, because they cannot get time off," he said.

The Secretary General of the Department of Health received a pay rise of €81,000 when he moved from the Department of Expenditure to the Department of Health in 2021. Dep Stanley alluded to the contrast between this and firefighters in his speech.

"The last thing I will say is about going outside pay agreements. Will the Government stop talking about that, for God's sake?

"A senior civil servant got a rise of €80,000. What pay agreement does that comply with? How does that work? I have never had that explained to me in this House or anywhere else. Other senior civil servants are lining up for it. If they can get it, surely to God we can do something for the people who are on 90 cent an hour and look after them. We need to do it and it needs to be done soon,” he said.

Watch: Laois Firefighters on picket line in Portlaoise

He called for a realistic offer must be put on the table to avert this action from escalating further.

"If we are going to attract new people into the service, we have to deal with retention. It is impossible to recruit people as it is and we are asking people to be on call 24-7, 340 days of the year. I heard the Taoiseach tell my party leader earlier that staff numbers will be increased by 20%.

Conditions 'brutal' as Laois fire fighters set for strike action

"They will not be, because we will not be able to get people. There were posters outside some of the stations in Laois trying to recruit people and the authorities cannot get them. The simple facts are the Government must deal with this issue. It cannot keep kicking the ball around on this one and passing the buck,’’ he said.

Dep Stanley said people will not take up posts because of the terms and conditions in place. He said it is important there are proper rosters and proper pay and conditions put on the table.