Cork's part-time firefighters 'struggle to get jobs as they need to be absent for call-outs'

Some part-time fire brigade personnel in the county are also having difficulty getting motor insurance cover

Unlike their colleagues in Cork city, fire brigade personnel in the county are not full-time. File picture: Larry Cummins

Part-time firefighters are finding it increasingly difficult to get full-time jobs in Co Cork because would-be employers don’t want them absent for emergency call-outs.

It has been claimed that this even applies to Cork County Council, which runs the fire brigade service in the county. 

The claim was made by Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Carroll, who said this issue, allied to problems of getting motor insurance cover, was driving people out of the county's fire service.

Mr Carroll told a council meeting he had recently spoken to a fireman working in the West Cork region about the problem and said he was “shocked and appalled” by what he was told.

Mr Carroll said the fireman had informed him that he and one of his colleagues intended to give up their jobs in the county’s fire service because it was hindering them from getting full-time employment.

“When they applied for [full-time] jobs and told would-be employers they were in the fire service, they wouldn’t get them,” Mr Carroll said.

“The man applied for jobs in the council as well and didn’t get them. He said, if anything, the council should be encouraging its staff to join the fire service.” 

I know some companies are hard-pressed at the moment, but this shocked me.

“I don’t know if it’s true or not, but he said it was,” he added.

Unlike their colleagues in Cork City, fire brigade personnel in the county are not full-time. 

Mr Carroll told senior council officials that some kind of a campaign should be mounted to point out to would-be employers that they would be aiding their communities by employing part-time firefighters.

He pointed out this was the second time in a month that the council had debated problems facing its own fire crews.

Motor insurance

Earlier this month, Fine Gael councillor Michael Paul Murtagh said he had become aware that some part-time fire brigade personnel in the county were having difficulty getting motor insurance cover from some companies because they are worried about them taking risks getting to their fire stations when responding to an emergency call-out.

Mr Murtagh is a full-time fire brigade member based at  Anglesea Street station in Cork city.

He said motor insurance issues didn’t arise for people like him as they have to work shifts from their stations, and thus wouldn’t be driving in when receiving an emergency call. 

Fianna Fáil councillor Ian Doyle said it was high time firefighters in the county got better remuneration.

Mr Doyle said in the old days they might well have just been there to fight fires, but now they do a lot more. 

He said many are trained first-responders who attend traffic accidents and sometimes go to the aid of heart attack victims.