Council owed 440000 in unpaid fire callout charges

Meath County Council is still owed €440,000 for fire brigade call-outs left unpaid over the last three years, according to new details revealed by the council.
The local fire service attended 205 call-outs last year and invoices were issued to property-owners for a total of €413,000. However, of this, €122,000 is still owed to the council.
Local authorities throughout the country are facing problems in collecting money owed for fire services. Some €4.6 million in charges out of a total of €9.3 million was outstanding at the end of last year.
Charges are imposed for call-outs to domestic fires, road traffic accidents and fires in commercial premises, with the amount of fees varying from one local authority to another.
Meath County Council also disclosed this week that the largest call-out charge applied in 2014 was €10,260. The council did not say what type of fire was involved or whether the fee has since been paid.

Domestic call-out charges were first applied by Meath County Council over 15 years ago. The council charges €100 for a call-out to chimney fires, €100 for domestic fires of less than 60 minutes' duration and €12 per minute after 60 minutes.