Retained firefighters in county Tipperary are to ballot for industrial/strike action during the month of November.
A two week notice period expired today.
The firefighters are concerned about a lack of management response to pay, conditions and a lack of sufficient numbers of retained firefighters.
The ballot will be a national ballot. The Department of Local Government asked retained firefighters nationwide for their views on improving the appeal of the career in late 2021 but thus far no meaningful proposals have been made.
The staff are represented by SIPTU who says the additional concerning factor is that 58% of existing staff say they will leave the service in the next five years.
Some of the twelve fire stations in county Tipperary are so short staffed they cannot use all of the vehicles at their disposal.
SIPTU says the general public may not be aware of the challenges in providing the service and on some occasions there may not be an adequate service provided unless the position is reformed and made fit for purpose.
Retained firefighters are paid approximately €20,000 to €25,000 per annum – in some cases it is difficult to have another job and meet the conditions of their Firefighter employment as regards availability and response times.
As some Fire Stations are so short staffed it is not possible for staff to request time off.
