Wicklow County Council has gone on trial in connection with the deaths of two fire-fighters in a disused warehouse in Bray nearly six years ago.
The council denies allegations that it failed to ensure their safety, health and welfare.
Father of 15, Brian Murray, and 26-year-old Mark O'Shaughnessy died after fighting a fire at a disused factory at Adelaide Villas, in Bray on September 26, 2007.
Wicklow County Council is being prosecuted as the fire authority and it denies four charges alleging breaches under the 2005 Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act.
Opening the prosecution’s case barrister Alex Owens told the jury they allege a lack of clear guidelines meant the two fire-fighters were exposed to unnecessary risk.
He said it is their claim there was no necessity for the two men to enter a disused building.
It is also alleged a second fire unit should have been called to the scene immediately and that due to insufficient training the pumps on a new fire truck were set up wrongly and the foam was not working as it should have worked.