Annual Report 2011.pdf (size 6 MB) - Offaly County Council

The training centre in Tullamore was utilised for
training internally and by other Local Authorities.
Accreditation, for the Sub-Officer course which was
run, was received from the National Directorate for Fire
and Emergency Management. Income of €60,000 was
generated in 2011.
Fire Prevention & Building Control
Offaly County Council Fire Service assessed over 70
Fire Safety Certificate, Dangerous Substances, and
Disabled Access Certificate applications. The fire
authority also gave advice on planning referrals, and
dealt with 114 licence applications. I total 372 fire
safety inspections of public premises took place. Offaly
Fire service also advised community groups on fire
safety and prevention and also delivered the Fire
Safety Schools program to all primary schools in the
county.
The Building Control function of Offaly County Council
is integrated into the fire service. This relates to the
processing and reception of commencement notices
and maintaining the register of same as per the
building control regulations. This also includes the
inspection and monitoring of new works to monitor for
compliance with all the requirements of the Building
Regulations, 1997. In total there were 120 inspections
of 40 buildings carried out, which represent 30% of
new buildings notified to the local authority.
Major Emergency Management
Both the Local and the Regional Major Emergency Plan were
maintained, reviewed and revised by the Major Emergency
Development Committee, the Regional Working Group and
the Regional Steering Group. Offaly County Council
participated in a regional major emergency exercise in
Mullingar & Kilbeggan.
Civil Defence
Civil Defence provided emergency response capability, in
particular during the severe weather in 2011, and supported
the community and events throughout 2010. Over 50 Civil
Defence duties were carried out during 2011, providing
Ambulance/First Aid cover and logistical support to various
events such as: 10k walks; Cycling races; Football matches;
Charity events; Community activities; St. Patrick’s day
parades; Equestrian events; and the Tullamore Phoenix
festival. The largest duties in terms of manpower and
resources, were the Tullamore Livestock show and the
response to the severe weather. Civil Defence worked in
conjunction with other agencies such as the HSE Ambulance
service, Gardai, Irish Red Cross, Order of Malta and Offaly
Fire & Rescue Service. This interaction proved very
beneficial to our members from an operational view point.
Quite an amount of new training was undertaken in terms of
the Casualty service, rope rescue and water awareness.
New members joining the service were also trained in A.E.D.
(Defibrillators) and C.P.R. Occupational First Aid courses
Offaly Local Authorities Annual Report 2011
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