On-call firefighters have said a national fire service would solve the issues they're facing.
They walked out of the public gallery in the Dáil last night following Minister Daragh O'Brien's address.
He said he will commit to positively deal with the retainer payment for firefighters at future public pay talks.
But Brian Murray, who is a retained firefighter in Wicklow, said they aren't treated like other emergency services.
He told Newstalk: "I do think that a national fire authority is a huge thing that needs to happen as soon as possible.
"I think this could be all within the remit of a new fire service, that's what needs to happen, I think the minister is completely deluded if he thinks there were any decent terms brought to us in terms of pay and time off."
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach has said “there is room for compromise” in relation to the industrial action of retained firefighters.
“We know that their terms and conditions need to improve and we’re committed to making that happen,” Leo Varadkar said.
His comments come as up to half of the stations in the retained fire service were due to close as part of an escalation of industrial action by the trade union representing workers in the sector.
There are approximately 2,000 Siptu members who work as retained firefighters at more than 200 fire stations around the country, providing fire and first-responder emergency services across the country. - Additional reporting from Press Association
