Fire Service

Thursday, 27 November 2025

Ceisteanna (364)

Claire Kerrane

Ceist:

364. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if changes could be made to MyPay, which remunerates retained firefighters to close the gap from December 9 to January 23 where they are not paid for incidents, specials and drills for this period, which makes up nearly half of their pay, leaving them in difficult financial situations; if, in light of the difficulty to retain firefighters, this could be examined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66947/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each local authority Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which they are responsible. This includes payroll and pay dates for employees.

I understand as part of a Workplace Relations Commission agreement in relation to pay and other matters in the Retained Fire Service, local authorities have undertaken to standardise the payment of retained firefighters, bringing them onto fortnightly pay patterns as for other local authority employees.

I have been advised that the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) has been leading on this project with local authorities and the payroll provider. This project is ongoing. Any concerns that individual local authority employees may have in relation to pay, should be raised with their local HR.