O’Callaghan to raise scrapping of DFB fire and accident call-out charges

Published on: 16 January 2015


Today marks the third anniversary of the introduction by Dublin City Council of fire and road accident call-out charges for Dublin householders. Fianna Fail Cllr Jim O’Callaghan says it’s a timely opportunity for a review of the charge which he says is too high, confusing and unnecessary.

On this day in 2012 Dublin City Council introduced a call-out fee for calling the Dublin Fire Brigade of €500 for domestic fires, chimney fires and false alarms and a charge of €610 for attending road crashes. Since its introduction DFB has attended more than 2,800 domestic fires or traffic incidents which should have generated more than €1.2 million for Dublin City Council yet not even half of this figure has been paid.

Fianna Fail Cllr Jim O’Callaghan says it’s now time for the charge to be reviewed.

‘3 years on and it’s time to review this charge which fails to generate any substantial revenue. My main concern is that this call-out charge may be acting as a deterrent for people from phoning the fire brigade which serves only to put lives at risk. It was introduced as a revenue generating exercise but it has failed in this regard therefore the Council should acknowledge this and make a decision to either reduce the charge considerably or scrap it altogether. The amount it raises is miniscule yet the potential for harm is immense. I will be raising the matter with Council officials,’ concluded Cllr Jim O’Callaghan.

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