The retained Fire Service in Ireland is not fit for purpose according to a local fire fighter.
That's the view of Michael Farrelly, a fire service member attached to Ballymahon Fire Station as hundreds of members from across the country are expected to take part in a 'Demonstration of Frustration' in Dublin today.
Members of the National Retained Firefighters Association of Ireland will march from Connolly Station to Leinster House at 3pm to highlight a recruitment crisis facing the service.
They are calling for new regulations on the governance of the fire service, citing the last meaningful negotiations being held in 1999.
Speaking to the Joe Finnegan Show today, Michael Farrelly says that the sector is in trouble:
''It's increasingly getting harder to recruit new recruits obviously and retain the current guys and girls that are delivering the service. And obviously with a 24 hour service the demands that are put on crews, and if them crew numbers are diminished, it causes undue problems for the fire service and delivery of that service.''
