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FIREFIGHTERS MARCHED IN Dublin today against attempts by the government to cut their crewing levels.
The Department of the Environment wants to reduce the number of people who attend certain fires as part of the Keeping Communities Safe Plan.
However unions believe it could jeopardise their safety of both firefighters and the public.
The chair of SIPTU’s retained firefighters national committee, Ciaran Scall, said the cuts will mean firefighter couldn’t go into a house fire with people inside:
At the moment if your house is on fire and God forbid there was people inside -we would go into the building because we know that if something goes wrong there are two firefighters outside that can go in and pull out the other two…if the cuts are brought in there would only be one firefighter and there’s no way he could pull out two firefighters.
(Leah Farrell/Photocall Ireland)
Trade unions said the firefighters may strike if the proposed reductions go ahead.
The march included both full-time and retained firefighters and ended with a rally.
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This government has to go they are a danger to everyone except themselves who they look after very well
My God Enda.. How low can you go.. SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!
Was about to say the same thing. Backward people running this country and backward systems.
Firefighters Risk their LIFE’s every time they save one of ‘ours’
We Stand with you on this, you have 100% support of millions of Irish Citizens.
Strike if they don’t budge, please request the public, your Allies to march with you to Leinster House.
We the majority of Irish Citizens, refuse to accept anymore Austerity !!
No more cutting of vital services, how dare a Pen Pusher think they have the authority to put the life’s of Firefighters at risk !!
Bray County Council got fined how much ? They did not adhere to safety regulations for firefighters, and a firefighter, father of 4 children died in the line of duty.
There is No Justification for purposely putting a man/women life at risk, add to the fact they are employed by the State, ‘Irish Citizens’ to save our life’s on daily basis.
WTF !!!
The new resource guidelines are based on international standards. Currently we send 6 firefighters when other countries send 4. No wonder the Unions want 6.
Name the standard John, Required manning level for turnout of a pump water tender is as follows;
Belgium 6
Denmark (Copenhagen) 6
Croatia 5
France 6-8
Germany 5
Italy 5
Netherlands 6
Norway 3
Slovakia 5
Spain 6
Sweden 5
Those guidelines based on heavily resourced urban brigades with back up in minutes. In Galway City for instance they cover 500 square miles with one station. If you arrive at the edge of the ground and require assistance it will take 50 mins minimum to get a fire engine there.
Stop blowing out of your hole it’s becoming tedious. Be contentious by all means but don’t be a bore.
Bull, the figures in the KCS Document are based on English figures that are now proven to be Potentially Dangerous. One in Command, one for the pump, two under BA and two back up, that equals six. This is a cost cutting excerise, but it will cost lives. The money wasted on the Fire Service Management is around £20/60M out of a bubdget of approx €240M, that’s where the problem lies.
Isnt our motor taxes etc supposed to go to central funds for local councils fot these services. Oh i forgot 2 thirds of motor tax is going to prop up Irish Water.
Austerity is putting lives at risk – to pay bondholders debt. That will be the legacy of the Castlebar back slappers. A more corrupt, inept & useless shower you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere on planet Earth.
Good on our brave fire fighters. Next its the blue flu. All out strike across the board. Wish I could have gone to support them. Government wants to destroy this country weak and uneducated and unhealthy in mind body and soul under the watchful support of bankers and EU elitists. To make our people weak and divided so we lose all our own sovernity.
Less Gardai , less nurses, less doctors, but we are recovering?? My ass
Gahan – I didn’t realise irish water profits were going to pay firefighters. What paper fed you that info? Silly me – I actually thought it was meant to pay towards overhauling the water system. Perhaps firefighters get paid by the litre. Of course I used to think that car tax was being used for road maintenance & so on but that goes to the water quango. As for our home tax – God knows where that money goes. You’re spoofs are as inaccurate as ever.
Currently the exchequer pays for water. (tax receipts)
If direct charging is allowed by Derek Byrne to proceed, then we’ll have more exchequer funds to pay for vital public services like this.
Sorry you needed that explained to you.
This people second…again…..
Again you’re talking out your ar$e and well you know it Gahan. The funds are there if this govt prioritised public welfare over private profit but they don’t give a damn. If you believe the govt spin we are no longer in recession & exchequer tax take is up but yet they are making savage cuts to key public services. So what you’re saying is that at some point in the distant future ( when irish water recoup the multi millions poured into their stuttering start up) & when the money collected via metering covers that & the network is completely overhauled then funds via the exchequer will be made available for services such as this one that they’re now happy to cut? Ah yes – makes absolute sense now.
Once IW has fees coming in, it will start issuing its own bonds to finance itself.
Why should anyone believe unsubstantiated leftie spiin promoted by political wannabes overr the ESRI?
Doctors
Nurses
Firefighters
Teachers
Graduates
Elderly people (lack of services… see ‘bed-blockers’)
Unemployed people
Students
Mentally ill
Actually anyone who falls ill
Pregnant Women
Single fathers/single mothers
Children (poverty risk/classroom overcrowding)
Homeless people/homeless families
Addicts
SMEs
Rural Ireland (eg Bus services being rolled back
High income earners (on huge tax)
Dublin residents (rent increases)
Is there a group of people in Ireland that ARE happy?
Enough is enough. End austerity.
Unfortunately, Euro links are tough to break, sad that the only release from austerity is to move away from what could have been an amazing alliance.
Unless there is either huge political change and bravery in this country. ..Ireland as we know it will fade into oblivion. Our young and educated will leave the country for better shores (oh wait….)
While our Taoiseach berates ordinary people for SHOUTING at figures such as Joan and MDH…… On our National broadcaster.
All of the above are suffering greatly yet trying to make the best of it.
Terms of the bailout have to be renegotiated.
I don’t blame our public reps/TDs. Let’s face it, they walked into a shitstorm left by FF. But now is the time- what with Syriza in Greece to ally against these enforced conditions.
“I don’t blame our public reps/TDs. Let’s face it, they walked into a shitstorm left by FF. But now is the time- what with Syriza in Greece to ally against these enforced conditions.”
Lara,
fine Gael partied all the way with their colleagues in Fianna Fail.
two sides of the same penny.!
@DH I am convinced he is double agent to increase public anger so we don’t take it. No one can be that devout a party supporter.
A jasus now there after the fire brigade. Now this is the final nail in the coffin for this repugnant group of so called leaders. Now I hope the people on the fence when it comes to voting now decide to vote them out. After all these cuts affect you and your family too. Enough is enough Enda and co your in power to serve the irish people’s best interests not that of Angela Merkel and co. You have shamefully let this country down. Now your just as bad as Fianna Fáil and that’s bad.
It really angered me last night to hear them say on the 9 O’clock news “there have been no cuts to firefighters jobs in the last 4 years”, as if that makes it ok to propose cuts now!
Stupid, stupid short-sighted planning.
Firefighters are needed, the save lives, damage and cost.
We need more, not less.
It doesn’t bother the government in the slightest people marching on the street they don’t listen they don’t care maybe it’s time for a different approach like other European countries it mite well be the only thing they understand.
Quick enda……send In the guards to quell the protest…..they might develop a sinister element. What a shower of tw@ts there are in that dail.
Well done Bryan Holmes. I see Gahan hasn’t responded – he must be looking for his imaginary standards somewhere!
Gahan – caught bulls#itting yet again. FG HQ will not be happy!
If he repeats “international standards” enough without answering any questions, it becomes true – that’s what they taught him in Leinster House.
Cuts and more cuts to most vital services and nobody speaks about our government spending €4 Billion annually on Supporting the Irish language. We borrow that money every year and use it to promote the language while small post offices close, hospitals close, local factories close, etc etc but God knows we need Irish to advances our chances of employment anywhere else in the world except Ireland apparently. Imagine no more austerity, no more emigration, no more redundancies in vital service personal, but to hell with that we need Irish because SF/IRA SAY SO.
This government are not with it at all?
Come on, let’s pay for water. Then we can afford to pay for firefighters.
Same on the no way won’t way attitude.
Enda? That you hiding under that balaclava?
We should be burning the bondholders and bankers then we could afford our firefighters
You do know that the half of the revenue of IW doesn’t go to the state, it goes into a few fat cats pockets, so how will a private companies profits pay for our firefighters when the state will own 0% in a few years?
Tin hat conspiracy theory based on megaphone propaganda
If politicians here did not go every St. Paddy’s day on a holiday for the week then they might have some money Johngahan for other thing as could a cut in their wages and pensions too?
Why don’t we have a national fire service like our police or ambulance service etc? There must be a huge amount of duplication and waste for a small country?
Enda says the country is on it’s way back!! Back form what? He lives in wonderland is that where we are too? He is nothing but a bully in the Emperors new clothes. He can’t wait to sell what’s left of this country. He is a disgrace but he is not alone. Joan can join him. Denis is going to have to start picking who he wants in his organisation. He won’t have room for all the numptys. I hope Enda does not have the neck to honour the likes of 1916 heroes while he’s busy spinning them in their graves. Grrrrrr
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