The State is expected to begin immediate implementation of a report that will put the 2,065 members of the retained fire services on a pathway to more structured terms of pay and conditions.
Minister for Housing and Local Government Darragh O’Brien will bring a memo to Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting asking for it to adopt a review carried out of the service, which has encountered problems in recent years with recruitment and retention.
The retained fire services (RTS) have been in existence since the 1940s and have been a local authority-delivered service for fires and emergency.
Those firefighters who have retained status are paid an annual retainer and then paid additional remuneration for attending to emergencies, attending training courses and performing other duties. The vast majority rely on the additional work for the bulk of their take-home pay.
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The firefighters are alerted by personal pagers and the current models for delivery of the service means that the vast majority of those in the service must have high levels of availability.
The status of those who work for the service means that they find it difficult to plan holidays or time off, and do not benefit to the same extent from the rights of full-time employees to take leave, sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave, force majeure leave etc.
There are 201 fire stations throughout the State with retained personnel and some 255 frontline vehicles. Most of the stations are located in rural areas.
There has been a decline in call-outs to fires from 62 per cent to 45 per cent of all calls since 2002. Conversely, the requirement for special services has gone up from 19 per cent to 35 per cent of all call-outs.
The irregular and non-permanent nature of the work has resulted in a high turnover rate. Some 716 firefighters left the service in the five-year period up to September 2021, of which 495 left before retirement age.
The review was carried out on behalf of the department by the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management. In a survey it conducted among firefighters, 58 per cent said they were likely to leave the service within the next three years.
“This is a figure of significant concern to the project team,” it stated.
While 40 per cent said they were satisfied with their role, almost eight in 10 of all those in the service found it difficult to achieve a work-life balance.
“Of those likely to leave the retained fire services in the near future, 67 per cent claim it is because of the demand of 24/7 on-call availability.”
The team recommenced a move away from the pay model of a basic retainer, which meant a significant portion of pay comes from attending emergency calls, training and special duty.
It said a review was needed of the overall remuneration model, including the pay in terms of the requisite commitment.
“The [current model] is not considered sufficient by staff in terms of delivering an effective service and getting a work/life balance.”
It recommended more fixed elements of pay and access to planned and structured time off, in line with the general working population. It also said a review was required of potentially new areas of response work that could be undertaken by these emergency services.
Mr O’Brien is expected to tell Cabinet colleagues that implementation of the recommendations will begin immediately.
