Emergency life-threatening situations will be covered despite strike action by retained fire fighters. 2,000 members of the service have downed tools again today after rejecting Labour Court proposals to resolve a dispute over pay, conditions and working hours.
SIPTU is demanding the government and local authorities take responsibility for frontline services and end the dispute.
Division Organiser with SIPTU Karen O Loughlin says they also have concerns about the risk assessment done ahead of the strike.
"They say they've done a risk assessment and that they've identified risks associated with gaps in cover, but then there is a further layer of responsibility to agree on measures to offset that risk," she explained.
"That's where the conversation is falling down because they're just not moving away from their position of the risk assessment and business as usual."
