Members of the Dublin Fire Brigade staged a demonstration outside the Mansion House today as part of protests over the staffing crisis.

There are currently 965 firefighters in Dublin Fire Brigade while standards dictate there should be over 1,000.

The crew was joined by SIPTU as they called on the Dublin City Council to solve the manning shortages.

Brendan O’Brien of SPITU told Dublin Live: "In recent times we’ve reached the stage where up to 20% of the Dublin Fire Brigade’s emergency funds hasn’t been able to be deployed.

"It has been taken off the road because of the ongoing manning shortages. Last week that resulted in six fire engines been taken off the road, other appliances were unmanned which leads to delays in emergency response.

"The result of that is an increase in risk to our members in the emergency service and as well as to the public who rely on that service. We’re calling on the DCC to put the funding and resources in that’s badly needed."

When asked about how the fire brigade has been called out to replicate ambulances in crashes recently, Mr O'Brien said: "It's unfortunate that it has come to this and that's a question that needs to be directed to DCC management because they know it's a problem there.

"Both sides acknowledge that the manning isn’t sufficient in Dublin Fire Brigade at the moment and needs to be increased substantially.

"The rate of recruitment that’s going on at the moment is not sufficient to overtake the problem.

"What we need is a rapid acceleration of recruitment to Dublin Fire Brigade to overcome this problem before we reach a point where there’s a serious incident Dublin Fire Brigade can’t respond to."

There are currently 80 people on the list waiting to join the emergency services.

Mr O'Brien said the DCC needs to "bring in simultaneous classes to begin to eat into this crisis".

He added: "The facilities are there, they are there around the country. There’s no good reason why this can’t be done."

Sinn Fein Councillor Daithi Doolan, who also joined the protest, told Dublin Live: "Management in action has failed to recruit, to train, and to bring staff members into Dublin Fire Brigade.

"We’re now at a crisis situation where we have 935 personnel in DFB and the union and the management both agree we need over 1000 personnel to keep this service on the road.

"This is not just an issue for Dublin City where we’re standing here today - this is an issue for all, Dublin City and the county."

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