Firefighter, paramedic and Workers’ Party representative David Gardiner has said that Dublin Fire Brigade staff “deserve better”, following the delay in delivering the COVID-19 vaccine to the frontline workers. Commenting on a discussion at Dublin City Council’s monthly meeting, which saw Chief Fire Officer Denis Keeley take questions from councillors, Gardiner said: “Unfortunately, the discussion on Dublin City Council leaves us still with more questions than answers. We now know that Dennis Keeley, the Chief Fire Officer in Dublin, hasn’t spoken to Paul Reid, the CEO of the HSE, about Dublin Fire Brigade paramedics not receiving our vaccinations. Why hasn’t he done this?”
“In addition, despite being on a lower tier than DFB paramedics, GPs and others received the vaccine when DFB paramedics were told there were “supply issues” and had our appointments cancelled. Why was this?” “It is unacceptable that, despite us visiting uncontrolled environments on a daily basis, only a quarter of DFB staff have received our first vaccination so far.”
“Keeley told Dublin City Council that he hopes that the remaining three quarters of DFB staff will receive their first vaccination sometime next week. We deserve better assurances than just ‘hopes’ for our safety and that of the public.” Concluding, Gardiner said: “Government failure around management of this pandemic has caused needless illness and death, and this is a clear continuation of that. We all deserve better than this.”
