No figures on ethnicity of firefighters - and no plans for recruitment of immigrants
IMMIGRANT advocates have called into question the anecdotally low number of foreign-born people serving in Ireland’s fire services.
The largest fire brigade in the country claims to have no figures on the ethnicity of personnel, while there are no Government policies to attract ethnic minorities into the fire services in the future.
Asked if there were any such plans notwithstanding the public service moratorium, a spokesperson for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government commented: “Recruitment of firefighters is a matter for each local authority. There are no central Government policies or plans directed at attracting ethnic minorities into the fire service.
“But that is not to say that local authorities have not taken any initiatives on this. It’s just that we wouldn’t be aware of them.”
According to Dublin City Council, which oversees the running of Dublin Fire Brigade, applicants do not have to be Irish citizens but those from outside the European Economic Area “must comply with current regulations for legal residency in the State set by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation”.
The Dublin Fire Brigade currently has 858 operational employees, and a council spokesperson said it is “an equal opportunities employer” with all competitions “open to any candidate meeting the eligibility criteria”. There are no planned recruitment drives at present.
The council did not have any figures on the number of personnel who are originally from abroad, and was unable to comment on what procedures are in place when personnel do not understand a person at a fire scene due to language barriers.
The Dublin Fire Brigade serves some 1.2 million people in Dublin city and county.
Community representatives say more needs to be done to make all public services, including firefighting, more inclusive.
“A lot of work needs to be done to open up to the migrant communities like open days and also with the Fire Brigade attending community family events to showcase opportunities,” commented Eric Yao, director of the Africa Centre in Dublin.
In 2005, An Garda Siochána relaxed the Irish language requirement for new trainees as part of a drive to attract members from ethnic minorities although the initiative has had limited success to date.
