• The issue of recent wild fires in west Donegal and the lack of Helicopter cover and its delayed in arrival raised with An Taoiseach-
• Report into Donegal wild fire delayed call out completed as requested by me –
Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher Leas Cheann Comhairle has raised the issue and concerns surrounding the delayed arrival of helicopter cover for the recent wild fires which broke out in West Donegal with the Minister with responsibility and functions for Defence- An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the Dáil this afternoon.
Pat the Cope stated I highlighted to the Taoiseach in the Dáil, the massive concerns which resulted from the delay between the initial call out for air cover to deal with the wild fires by Donegal County Council, which was at 9.30 am, subsequent calls were made by myself personally to the Minister but no helicopter cover arrived on site until after 5 pm that day. I had previously requested a full report be carried out into the matter and corresponded this request directly to the Taoiseach last month.
When the Helicopter cover arrived it made a significant contribution in finally controlling the wild fire, the issue here is what protocols are in place within the Department that when a call out is instigated by a local authority – what are the rules and procedures within the Department of Defence for initiating a full mobilisation of air cover added Pat the Cope.
Speaking in the Dáil, Pat the Cope paid tribute to the Donegal Fire Service, the Civil Defence, the Army and to Donegal County Council for taking the initiative for calling in a private helicopter crew and without doubt the hundreds of locals and volunteers that fought the wild fires throughout the day, this included the farmers that provided slurry tankers and other equipment. Without all of this help and efforts on the part of so many the situations would have spiralled out of control.
Pat the Cope stated the 7 hour delay which was experienced in Co Donegal cannot be allowed to be repeated, at the time of the fires in Donegal I called on the Taoiseach and Minister of State for Defence to conduct a review and furnish a report into why the delays occurred. An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed to me that a full report is prepared into the matter, and he will share the contents of the report with me once it is cleared for publication, he also acknowledged that in fact there is no current standby crew for helicopter cover to deal with wild fires, and it was due to this fact that delays occurred in Donegal last month. .
It may well be a situation whereby no emergency stand by crew is on call up for such cases as these, and if this is the case then the Minister must address this anomaly post haste we cannot allow a situation whereby cover is not provided for Wild Fires. The voluntary effort of hundreds of locals and the Donegal Fire Service saved numerous properties and potentially lives but there will always be instances in cases of wild fires where further assistance and cover will be required – it is those cases that we must prepare for and have the appropriate protocols and procedures to deal with cases where the fire becomes extremely dangerous an uncontrollable concluded Pat he Cope.