Only 33% pay Dublin fire call-out charge

Dublin City Council’s controversial call-out charge for use of the fire service has recouped just one-third of the fees owed for this year so far.

Figures provided by Dublin City Council show that in the year to the end of last month, 641 call-out charges were applied but just 215 were paid. It meant €107,995 was paid in charges, while another €191,955 remains unpaid.

Since the new charging structure was introduced at the start of last year the rate of payment has been slow.

In addition to the 329 unpaid charges, 16 were successfully appealed on hardship grounds.

The call-out charge starts at €500, while the charge for second and subsequent hours per fire tender starts at €450.

John Kidd, national secretary of the Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association (IFESA), said the introduction of the charge in Dublin last year was “wrong” and in his view, the rate of non-payment showed it was “inefficient”.

“First of all, we are against them, they do not work and they have never been proven to work,” Mr Kidd said of the call-out charges.

He claimed the introduction of a national fire and ambulance service would create a more efficient emergency service without the need to charge members of the public call-out fees.

A spokesman for the section of the local authority dealing with the call-out charge said: “A passer-by calling will not be charged — the recipient of the service is charged. Dublin Fire Brigade continues to follow-up on unpaid invoices. In addition, Dublin Fire Brigade were the last fire service to introduce charges.”