Councillors in Donegal are calling for Executive of Donegal County Council to scrap plans for a €20,000 report on the fire services in south Donegal.
A public meeting in Ballyshannon heard last night that that money would be better spent investing in the services themselves.
Meanwhile, Donegal County Council says a review of the Fire Stations in south Donegal will be complete by this summer.
A public meeting in Ballyshannon heard last night that locals want to retain both fire stations in Ballyshannon and Bundoran.
They are the only 2 stations in the county along with Glencolmcille that have yet to be upgraded.
Councillors and members of the public who attended the meeting last night said they will not approve any plans by the Council to consider the amalgamation of the two stations.
The acting Chief Fire Officer and the Director of Services for Emergency Services in county Donegal were invited to last night’s meeting but were unable to attend.
However, in a statement to Ocean FM News today, Donegal County Council says that ‘a review of the Fire Service in the Ballyshannon and Bundoran areas is currently being carried out.’
It states this is with the aim of coming up with an ‘evidenced based business case’ for capital investment in the fire service for these areas.
The Council states that this review is expected to be completed by this summer.
However, Fine Gael Councillor Barry O’Neill last night called for the CEO, Director of Services and the Chief Fire Officer to scrap the plans for such a review.
He says the final decision on the capital investment rest with the Councillors and so the consultants review is a waste of money:
