The senior fire officer for Galway says not enough staff are available in the city for late-night checks on pubs and clubs that may become overcrowded at weekends.
Galway could face greater risk of a disaster than Dublin because there are staff in the State's capital to carry out on-the-spot inspections in premises that are filled to capacity on Friday and Saturday nights.
Unlike Dublin, Galway and other major towns and cities do not have full-time fire prevention officers for inspections on clubs and pubs when they are in full swing at night.
But Mr John O'Shaugh- nessy said he was hopeful the issue would be addressed when a current review of fire services throughout the State is completed.
He was more concerned about the safety of customers attending crowded "superpubs" than those who frequent night-clubs, because capacity figures are set out for clubs and fire exits are clearly visible.
Mr O'Shaughnessy said he was hopeful that greater resources would be allocated to the service in Galway to ensure that inspections of premises in the city could be carried out on a more regular basis.
"There are teams of people who work full-time in this area in Dublin, but inspections during performances are not happening here in Galway because we don't have the resources," he said.