Callouts to bonfires in Killarney during September and October cost the taxpayer over €11,000.
That’s according to figures provided to the recent Killarney Municipal District meeting, following a motion from Kerry Independent Alliance councillor John O’Donoghue.
Fellow councillors also spoke of the impact of bonfires and fireworks on local residents during the run-up to Halloween.
In response to Cllr O’Donoghue’s motion, Kerry County Council said the Killarney Fire Brigade was called to 14 bonfires during September and October this year.
This includes three callouts to bonfires on Halloween night.
The council said each callout costs in the region of €800, meaning those 14 callouts cost the taxpayer over €11,000.
Cllr O’Donoghue said this was a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money, and the job the fire service does is far too important to be wasting time putting out fires that were needlessly started.
Independent councillor Maura Healy-Rae said this adds pressure on the fire service and the roads staff who have to clean up the mess the next day.
Cllr Healy-Rae said elderly people are in a living hell between bonfires and fireworks in the run-up to Halloween, and many are afraid to go outside when it gets dark.
She said there is a huge increase in use of fireworks after the National Ploughing Championships, and called for the MD to write to the owners and ask them if all measures are being taken to prevent the sale of fireworks at the Championships.
Independent councillor Martin Grady, who is a member of the fire service in Killarney, said no money spent on emergency services is a waste of taxpayers’ money, and the rate of gorse fires is also increasing.
