SIPTU members in Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) have launched a public awareness campaign to highlight risks to the public and firefighters caused by the failure of DFB management to address serious staff shortages in the service. SIPTU Organiser, Brendan O’Brien, said: “The failure of DFB management to address the serious understaffing which threatens the safety of both our firefighter members and the public has forced out members to highlight these risks and demand that they be addressed as a matter of urgency. “At present, DFB is experiencing daily shortages of around 20 firefighters, which approximates to understaffing of some 15% on a daily basis. This means that DFB appliances may not be fully crewed or may have no crew at all and additional appliances from other areas of the city are being deployed to emergencies to cope with the shortfall. This leaves those areas short of fire cover. “The failure to provide for minimum DFB crewing levels results in it taking longer for the required numbers of firefighters to arrive at the emergency site. Meanwhile, other parts of Dublin are being deprived of fire cover as a result of their resources being deployed to compensate for the crew shortages in the DFB. “Management has failed to address this urgent matter despite consistent appeals from our members in the interests of public and firefighter safety. We are calling on those with responsibility for the delivery of the DFB service to act immediately to address this matter by ensuring there are sufficient available firefighters to maintain minimum crewing levels and not to wait until a tragedy occurs through the inaction of management.”
SIPTU launches public awareness campaign on Dublin Fire Brigade crew shortage
