*Photograph: John Mangan
RETAINED firefighters have voted to accept proposals from the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) aimed at resolving a dispute over pay and conditions.
In a ballot of SIPTU members, 63% voted in favour of the deal. Discussions at the WRC were led, on behalf of the local authorities, by the LGMA and supported by representatives of the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) and officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in a supporting advisory role.
Since June, around 2,000 retained firefighters had been engaged in a rolling campaign of industrial action, with pickets placed across 200 retained fire stations.
Last month, they suspended their industrial action after agreement was reached at the WRC.
Members of the retained service are part-time firefighters who receive an annual retainer for being on-call.
WRC proposals include having a minimum of twelve retained firefighters per station with six available to respond which means the addition approximate 20 percent increase in staff numbers with an additional 400 new retained firefighters. Fifty additional promotional positions are to be created.
Structured time off is to be agreed which would enable a retained firefighter to be away from their station fire-ground area for up to 24 weeks a year, a reduction on the current 48 weeks and flexibility to attend calls when scheduled on leave.
With the acceptance of the WRC proposals, new Retained firefighter recruits will now enter service with guaranteed fixed minimum earnings of over €18,000 and will reach the top of the scale after eight years.
In Clare, there are 76 fire fighters and 26 operational vehicles at present in the Fire and Rescue Service.
