A Connemara farmer had to fork out a staggering €7,000 for the fire brigade to put out his blaze in a hayshed close to his home.
It has been suggested that the charges imposed by the Galway Fire Service are excessive and that this individual should not have to face such a charge.
There is an allocation of more than €8.5 million for the provision of the fire service across the city and county but there is intense criticism of the charges being imposed for call outs.
The bachelor farmer, who was said not to have a big income, had contacted the fire services when his hayshed went on fire and was shocked when he received the bill of €7,000 for them putting out the blaze.
The matter was highlighted by Cllr Seamus Walsh at Galway County Council’s annual budget meeting at which he pointed out that €8.5 million was allocated towards the provision of a fire service and it was wrong to charge an individual such an amount for a call-out.
He said that the call out charges being imposed by the fire service in Galway were of such a magnitude that it would dissuade householders who are experiencing a blaze to contact them at all.
The Fianna Fail councillor the farmer from Roscahill actually paid the bill and if he had known about it in advance, he would have advised him not to.
We are funding the fire service and so are Galway City Council but to impose such charges on a farmer who would not be on a great income in bordering on the outrageous.
Director of Services Jim Cullen told the councillor that it was a matter that he should take up with the Chief Fire Officer. However, he said that this income was required to operate the service.
But Cllr Walsh told The Connacht Tribune afterwards that this individual was paying increased property charges and had lost his shed and fodder for his cattle and still had to fork out €7,000.
“I am looking at the budget and we have a fund to provide a fire service and I presume the City Council have something similar in place but to charge a poor farmer such an amount is ridiculous and totally unacceptable.
“We have to have a serious look at the services that we provide and the charges that are imposed on members of the public. It seems outrageous what the public are expected to pay when they are already paying for these services in taxes,” Cllr Walsh added.