Retained firefighters in county Tipperary and nationwide are now considering proposals made by the Labour Court aimed at resolving the dispute between Retained firefighters and the Local Government Management Agency. The firefighters suspended industrial action last month to allow the Labour Court to examine the issues involved. Most fire stations outside the larger cities are staffed by part-time firefighters who are paid an annual retainer for being on-call.
The Labour Court is recommending that the retainer be increased by between 24% and 32.7%. Under the proposals, a firefighter on an annual retainer of €8,870 would see it rise to €11,769. The Labour Court is also recommending that the size of the retained service be increased by 400 additional firefighters in order to address staff shortages and that local management make urgent efforts to fill all current vacancies.
Other recommendations include changes to premium payments, the introduction of community-based fire prevention programmes to allow firefighters earn additional income, and the development of policies on sick leave, maternity leave and parental leave. Several Fire Stations across the country are short staffed and due to the working conditions many of the existing staff have indicated that they will leave in the next three years. Tipperary town Fire station is so short staffed it can only deploy one of the two fire engines at it’s disposal.
