Special deal for firefighters would 'unravel' public service pay policy, minister says
It comes as retained firefighters staged pickets at several fire stations and marched to the Dáil in a bid to secure improved pay and conditions that they say is needed to urgently address a recruitment and retention crisis in the service.
Making special arrangements for retained firefighters would completely unravel the national public service pay policy, Minister Darragh O'Brien has warned.
However, Mr O'Brien has said that "there is a way forward that meets firefighters' needs and protects the integrity of the collective pay process" and promised to address retainer payments in upcoming national pay talks.
It comes as retained firefighters staged pickets at several fire stations and marched to the Dáil in a bid to secure improved pay and conditions that they say is needed to urgently address a recruitment and retention crisis in the service.
There are approximately 2,000 Siptu members who work as retained firefighters at more than 200 fire stations around the country, providing fire and first-responder emergency services across the country. Retained firefighters are not full-time employees and are instead paid a retainer to be on call for fire stations.
Mr O'Brien told the Dáil: "In good faith I want to state as clearly and simply as possible my personal commitment to ensuring that the retainer payment is positively dealt with in the upcoming national pay talks.
"I know firefighters are frustrated but I hope you can see my bona fides in prioritising this issue and supporting you since coming into office."
He called on Siptu to re-engage in talks to "copper-fasten and secure" the progress on conditions made to date and work towards finalising an agreed outcome.
"Engagement at the WRC is the route out of an industrial relations dead end. We can ensure conditions are improved, contentious reform elements eliminated, the service strengthened and pay then resolved in the national pay talks format," Mr O'Brien said.
Earlier in the day, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that "there is room for compromise" and conceded that terms and conditions need to improve.
But Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said retained firefighters have been "pushed to the very brink" by Government and they felt that "they've been left with no choice" with regards to industrial action..
"They are the very best of our communities. They do their jobs under incredibly difficult circumstances acting as first responders at scenes that most of us could never even imagine, saving lives — often putting their own lives on the line." She said a Government review found that 58% of retained firefighters said they were likely to leave the service within three years.
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said that the fire service needed to be modernised, adding that the current system is "untenable" and "problematic".
Ms Murphy said:
She added that it was difficult for retained firefighters to access full-time employment, due to some employers being reluctant to take them on.
Solidarity and Cork North-Central TD Mick Barry said that the current payment levels for retained firefighters had caused the retention crisis within the profession.
"No wonder there is a huge recruitment and retainment crisis within the fire service. Those pay structures haven't been seriously changed in the last 20 years,” Mr Barry said. He added that the Government had “refused” to engage with retained firefighters and this had caused the ongoing industrial action.
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