A Wexford mother has expressed her gratitude to Gorey Firefighters who left their picket line yesterday to help assist her son.
Veronica’s son Ben suffered a seizure in Gorey town yesterday afternoon and firefighters along with Gardaí gave medical attention to the 19 year old as they waited for paramedics.
Retained firefighters are on strike and firestations are closed after rejecting a proposed settlement of their dispute over pay and staffing levels. Around 2,000 retained firefighters at some 200 stations around the country are involved in the dispute which centres on their demands for substantial increases to their overall pay, improved recruitment and retention by the local authorities who employ them and rostered time off. At present, the workers, who are technically part-time and permitted to hold other jobs but in many cases say they are on call 24/7 except for when they are on annual leave, are paid a retainer of between €8,000 and €12,000 and then on the basis of attendance for training or call-outs. The number of call-outs has been stagnant in recent years and in longer term decline leading, their union Siptu says, to a fall in their overall levels of remuneration.
Speaking on Morning Mix Veronica said she didn’t know what could have happened if it wasn’t for their help.
