Fine Gael Representative Noel Rock has outlined what he called “an alarming rise in hoax fire calls taking place across the Dublin City Council area”. Mr. Rock, who represents Fine Gael in Drumcondra and Glasnevin, said: “This is an urgent problem. Dublin City is the only place in the entire country where hoax phonecalls outnumbered well-intentioned false alarm calls in 2011. The ratio of hoax phonecalls to false alarms is now 2:1, and this costs us a huge amount. This is the first time on record that hoax calls have surpassed false alarms, and we’re the only area in the country where this happens.”
Fine Gael Representative Mr. Rock added: “I am calling on the Government to address this situation urgently and for Dublin City Council to communicate this problem more effectively. Mayo County Council has outlined that it charges €1,000 per call-out and that many other councils charge up to €1,500. This means that, at a conservative estimate, the cost of these stunts by pranksters is €3.8m over five years in Dublin.”
Mr. Rock continued: “These hoax calls use vital resources and can potentially slow down response times. We need to have more serious punishments for those who abuse these services, waste time and potentially put lives at risk.”
Mr. Rock concluded: “Every resource matters at times like these. Those who abuse these services are wasting taxpayers time, money and potentially hampering emergency services who are working harder than ever to get things done. Dublin is the only place in the country where people with malicious intent are outnumbering those with good intentions when they ring the emergency services, and we need to put an end to it.”
