COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE

Monday, September 26, 2022

QUESTION NO. 10

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

"To ask the CEO to report on actions to improve the facilities at Tallaght Fire Station and will he give assurances that all necessary equipment is being provided to deal with all emergencies especially in relation to the challange of high rise buildings and may we have a statement?"

REPLY: 

Dublin Fire Brigade train all operational fire fighters and officers to deal with a full range of incidents including fires in tall and complex buildings and invest in a broad range of specialised equipment to provide for the response in buildings.  Dublin Fire Brigades compliment of turntable ladders have increased over the last 12 months. The new 42m Ladder will go into service shortly.  Discussions with the Trade Unions continue with respect to the deployment of a revised specials agreement, which includes turntable ladders and these talks are at an advanced stage.

Dublin Fire Brigade receive fire safety certificate applications for all types of buildings including residential accommodation. The applicant must demonstrate compliance with Building Regulations 1997-2019, and their decisions will be to grant, either grant with conditions or refuse these proposals.

Guidance on compliance with Building Regulations is provided by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in the form of Technical Guidance Document B and other guidance.  Multi-unit developments such as apartment buildings must be fitted with fire safety features to provide for means of escape, control of the internal and external spread of fire and for firefighting facilities to achieve compliance with Building Regulations 1997-2019.  It should also be noted that fires in high-rise buildings are principally designed to be fought from an internal protected stairwell as well as utilising external resources as required.

The Dublin Inter-County Sub-Committee on Fire and Emergency Management, which was established in April 2022 to consider strategic and policy matters in relation to Dublin regional fire and emergency management and is chaired by the Dublin Lord Mayor, is due to have its next meeting in October after which it is anticipated that a report from that meeting will be brought to the Housing SPC in November.  South Dublin is currently represented on this sub-committee by four Councillors, namely Councillor Lynn McCrave, Councillor Liam Sinclair, Councillor Liona O’Toole and Councillor Alan Edge.