Legislation to protect emergency personnel

The Government has been urged to show greater commitment in bringing forward legislation to protect on-duty fire brigade and ambulance personnel from assaults.

The call from the Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association follows an attack on a fireman in Sneem, Co Kerry, at about 11pm on Sunday.

He was with a unit from the local brigade dealing with a fire in the village when he received a blow to the face from another man.

He was attended to at the scene by a doctor and did not require hospital treatment.

Gardaí are investigating the incident.

A Kerry Co Council spokesman said such incidents were rare in the county.

However, there has been an estimated 2,000 serious attacks on Irish emergency services workers in the past eight years, according to the IFEA.