Sinn Féin TD John Brady has said that Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien’s failure to live up to his promises has once again left retained firefighters on the brink of industrial action.

The Wicklow TD was responding after the firefighters’ union representatives today rejected what they described as unacceptably low offers by management.

Teachta Brady said:

“Once again today we find ourselves in a situation where retained firefighters represented by SIPTU are on the brink of industrial action.

“These firefighters are committed to keeping our communities safe so I know that this is the last thing that they wanted, and I know that they want a resolution to this dispute.

“That we find ourselves in this situation lies squarely at the door of Minister Darragh O’Brien.

“Darragh O’Brien made strong political commitments to these firefighters – he said he would champion them and committed to delivering a pay deal in the national pay talks – but yet again he has failed to deliver.

“Retained firefighters are at their wits end. This dispute has gone on far too long. We need these services to keep our communities safe, but our retained firefighters are understaffed, overworked, under-resourced and underpaid.

“It is therefore a complete dereliction of duty that the government continues to lack the political will to grasp the opportunity to address the core issues at the heart of the recruitment and retention crisis in the Retained Fire Service.

“If the government and Darragh O’Brien continues to fail to act, the responsibility for the inevitable reescalation of industrial action will lie fairly and squarely at his door.

“Darragh O’Brien needs to urgently intervene in a meaningful way to bring a speedy and lasting resolution to this dispute that values our retained firefighters.”