The construction of buildings that are 'fire safe' was on the agenda last week as a major conference addressed by a wide range of experts including consultants, engineers and practitioners looked at fire safety in the 'build environment'.

Michael Finneran, Minister for Housing, and Local Services was a keynote speaker at the 2009 Annual Conference of the Institute of Fire Engineers in Gormanstown, Co Dublin.

The conference titled 'Fire & Safety Challenges in the Built Environment' emphasised the importance of incorporating fire engineering into buildings at the earliest design stage.

The Minister said: "With new buildings or projects it is particularly important to consider fire safety implications at the concept design stage and the advice provided by specialists such as yourselves and architects can enhance fire safety."

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He referred to the publication last year of BS 9999, a new 'Code of practice for Fire Safety in the design, management and use of building'.

The Minister stated: "My department is drafting a consultation document on the position of BS 9999 in relation to the requirements of Irish Building Regulations."

The Minister also said that in the coming months his department will commence a review of the Irish Technical Guidance Document B - Fire Safety.

The Minister commented upon the timing of the conference: "This conference is indeed timely coinciding as it does with the National Fire Safety Week which was launched in Belfast just days earlier.

"National Fire Safety Week is a cross border event, run jointly with the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service," he said, noting that the theme of this year's Fire Safety Week was 'Working Smoke Alarms Saves Lives'.

"Both the young and elderly are particularly vulnerable and these groups account for almost half of the domestic fatalities.

"Unfortunately, on average 46 people die in Ireland each year from fires.

"House fires account for the vast majority of fire fatalities. In most of these incidents, a level of fire safety education and awareness could have prevented the loss of life in a fire or limited the damage," he continued.

"In his closing comments, the Minister spoke of the need to deliver quality services to the community and that the need for the fire service to be cost effective and deliver value for money particularly in these difficult economic times."

(BMcC/KMcA)