Cullen to establish National Fire Authority

The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, has announced plans to set up a National Fire Authority that he says will be the "overarching body for fire services in Ireland".

He announced the proposals last night in Wexford at the annual Conference of the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA). The association has been calling on the Government for some years to overhaul the existing service.

Mr Tony Gleeson, the association's chairman,  will tell the conference today the quality of service provided by  fire officers have "deteriorated in many  respects" due to the failure of the Government  to create the authority.

He will say  that the State has a very high rate of fire- related deaths, compared with international  trends.

Mr Gleeson will tell delegates the failure to introduce the  recommendations of a report, carried out by  consultants Farrell Grant Sparks (FGS) meant the  service had no confidence that any progress was  being made to develop the service.

A report by consultants Farrell Grant Sparks  cited a lack of leadership and focus in the fire  service. It blamed the spread of authority  across a range of statutory bodies. There are 37 fire authorities with huge  operational variations, according to Mr Gleeson.

Mr Gleeson is expected to say no linkages exist between  the fire service and the development of a  disaster-management strategy.

An example of this was when the Government set  up the Office of Emergency Management and  a Government task force following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Mr Gleeson will say "no information  has come through to chief fire officers about  the deliberations of these bodies despite the  fact that local fire brigades will always be the  vanguard service".