Madam, - I refer to the position of Chief Fire Officer, Dublin City Council, which was advertised in the Appointments section of your newspaper on Friday, January 9th.
This is surely a post of the highest importance in Irish local government, in that the Chief Fire Officer is publicly perceived to have responsibility for ensuring the safety of the community in our capital city and surrounding area, and for overseeing their rescue from all manner of disasters which may befall them.
We saw on our own television screens the achievements of the US fire services in the wake of the 9/11 disasters, in the face of enormous devastation of life and property, and in the midst of the terror and panic which pervaded communities there at that time. There is increasing concern now regarding threats from terrorist organisations which are prepared to use chemical, biological and nuclear radiation weapons indiscriminately against civilian targets.
In both the US and the UK, security services are now at their highest state of alert against such threats. The fire services in Ireland must also be ready and must have preparedness, planning and resources to ensure that they can deal with any and all kinds of disasters.
Therefore, it is a great pity that chief fire officers in Ireland do not enjoy a status and esteem within the local government system comparable to their counterparts in the US, UK and other EU countries.
A recent national review of the fire services here found that the present systems and structures, both nationally and locally, are no longer adequate to sustain and develop a modern fire and rescue service.
The salary scale offered for the post of chief fire officer in Dublin is indeed mediocre compared with salaries for other senior posts in the public service arena, the majority of which carry much less responsibility.
Have the findings of the Stardust report been forgotten already, or does anybody care? - Yours, etc.,
DIARMUID O'CEILLEACHAIR, Arden Vale, Tullamore, Co Offaly.