“We had emergency mechanisms for which 44 humanitarian associations have already taken place, most of which have resorted to the two-year repayable support mechanism,” said Eduardo Cabrita to deputies on the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees.

The financial difficulties of the humanitarian associations of volunteer firefighters due to the decrease in the transport of urgent and non-urgent patients during the covid-19 pandemic were raised by members of the Left Block Sandra Cunha and PCP António Filipe.

In April, the Government approved a decree-law that establishes a temporary and exceptional support regime for humanitarian firefighters associations, anticipating the payment of twelfths of the financing in this phase of the covid-19 pandemic.

This temporary regime allows the establishment of a set of support for anticipating financing that was foreseen and also a line of financing.

On this specific funding and support in the scope of the covid-19 for the fire brigades, the Secretary of State for Internal Administration, Patrícia Gaspar, explained to the deputies that the humanitarian associations that have so far submitted an “express support request have been those who have a more consolidated awareness of what was the impact of this situation”.

“We started working from an early age, not directly with the 400 associations, but with the Portuguese Firefighters League, which built this bridge, and with the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority itself in order to try to understand as quickly as possible what it was estimated impact”, he stressed.

The Secretary of State stressed that the fire brigade associations immediately realised that they were having a reduction in the transport services for urgent and non-urgent patients, but “the perception in terms of the real financial impact on their accounts is something that is only now being to arrive".

According to Patrícia Gaspar, it is only now that firefighters are "effectively investigating" the values.

However, he underlined that he has the indication that the humanitarian associations of volunteer firefighters are “quickly recovering the pace of work, especially in terms of transporting urgent patients”.

"Most of the fire brigades with whom we have articulated note this," he said, stressing that the economic recovery could be made "more quickly than was initially expected".

The Secretary of State also said that this process is dynamic and that this mechanism can be rethought according to what may be development in the short term.

Eduardo Cabrita also stated that, together with the Ministry of Health, the pace of payment for the transportation of patients is being recovered and the recovery of the activity is being monitored, which has a lot to do with the dimension of the return of the normal activity of the National Service of health.

In addition to this exceptional mechanism, the minister noted that the fire brigades have an increase of 4 percent in the reference budget this year, 8 percent in the financing of participation in the fire-fighting device and 10 percent in the meals served during the fire season.

The minister also said that “even in a pandemic period, there was only one fire brigade that had been inoperable for a few days”, but that was closed with the support of neighbouring corporations.

According to the governor, it was the Cascais firefighters.