Daithí Doolan, Sinn Féin Leader on Dublin City Council and European election candidate for Dublin, has said that the recruitment and retention crisis in Dublin Fire Brigade is being exacerbated by the failure of successive to address pension concerns.

Cllr Doolan was speaking as the Secure Our Future campaign, a coalition of nine representative bodies of workers in An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces, the Prison Service and Fire Brigades, demonstrated at Leinster House today.

Cllr Doolan said:

“Members of the Dublin Fire Brigade and other essential services have suffered over the past decade as a result of legislation brought in by the Labour Party when Brendan Howlin was Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

“We are seeing recruitment and retention crises right across our essential public services and this is a failure by successive governments to properly value these workers.

“Failure to address staffing levels, and the core reasons behind why Dublin Fire Brigade is struggling to recruit and retain workers, is seriously jeopardising firefighters’ ability to appropriately respond to fires and other serious incidents, and is putting their safety and that of the public at risk.

“SIPTU have outlined in stark terms how staffing levels for 2025 are 100 short of where the service needs to be, and how Dublin Fire Brigade’s reliance on overtime to man its service is unsustainable.

“Sinn Féin is committed to standing up for firefighters and the communities they serve to protect.

“Solving the recruitment and retention crisis within Dublin Fire Brigade, which has worsened under this government, will require all options to be examined including addressing fast accrual pensions changes that are now acting as a disincentive to hiring new recruits.”