Retained firefighters in Tipperary are to ballot for possible industrial or strike action.
They along with colleagues across the country have ongoing issues in relation to recruitment and retention within the service.
Chief Fire Officer for Tipperary Dave Carroll has confirmed that they have received correspondence from SIPTU – which went to all Local Authorities with a Retained Fire Service – serving two weeks’ notice of their intention to ballot for action.
SIPTU representative Arek Muszynski says staffing issues have led to problems at fire stations in Tipperary.
“They are on call 365 days a year and they have less than five minutes to respond (to a call).
“If you are in a fire station where your numbers are gone down to 6 or even 5 in some of them – so below the agreed safe levels – its impossible for you to take time off now. A lot of our firefighters have applied for annual leave and they can’t get it.”
Arek claims at least one fire station in Tipperary doesn’t have enough personnel to utilise all of the equipment at their disposal.
“They were a two-pump station – now they’re a one-pump station because they do not have enough firefighters to use the two pumps. Effectively the whole fire service there has been reduced to one pump on that basis.
“So if there’s anything major they have to now call in resources from around rather than tending to the emergency because the two pumps cannot be used.”
