MINISTER FOR HOUSING and Local Government, Darragh O’Brien, has claimed that planned industrial action by retained firefighters this weekend will be “highly unsafe” for the communities they serve.

In a letter to Siptu divisional organiser Karan O’Loughlin, the minister urged the union not to escalate industrial action this weekend.

The 2,000-strong part-time service, which provides fire and first responder emergency services, has been engaged in industrial action for the past two months due to staffing numbers. 

Last weekend the industrial action led to a 50% reduction in fire cover across the country while retained firefighters refused to communicate with fire service management or regional communication centres unless it was for life saving information.

In a letter sent to O’Loughlin yesterday and obtained by The Journal, O’Brien stated:

“I am aware this action will escalate again on Saturday 19 August. This situation is highly unsafe for firefighters and is posing a severe threat to public safety.”

“While recognising the right of Siptu members to engage in industrial action, a consistent and acceptable level of service must be maintained in any dispute to mitigate risk to the public and to safeguard firefighter safety in line with the Code of Practice of Industrial Disputes (1992),” he wrote.

“Therefore, I would urge all parties to this dispute, without delay, to seek the assistance of the WRC to deescalate this dispute and explore how these issues can be resolved”.

“It is in all our interests that normal fire service operations are resumed as quickly as possible to ensure public safety and the safety of fire personnel,” the minister wrote.

O’Brien added that he assures Siptu he “will be a strong advocate for the retained firefighters during the upcoming pay talks, which begin in a matter of weeks.”

Siptu has been contacted for comment.

Last week the union asked the government if social welfare payments for retained firefighters had been “deliberately blocked”.

Siptu claimed to have received nationwide reports that its members are “having their payments refused because of the strike”. 

Approximately one third of fire fighters are supported by social protection payments according to Siptu. 

The union stated that it had written to the government’s Social Protection minister, Heather Humphreys, to highlight concerns that payments were not being processed.