Vol. 509 No. 1
301 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the estimated number of private investigators operating in Ireland; the need for and identified control of these operators; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19803/99]
As I have indicated to the House previously, the report of the consultative group on the private security industry contains recommendations for the establishment of a statutory framework for regulation of the industry which would include regulation of persons and companies who operate as private investigators. Work on the heads of a Bill to give effect to the recommendations contained in the report are at an advanced stage in my Department. The necessary consultations on certain operational, staffing, financial and security aspects with relevant Departments and the Garda Síochána are in progress and it is my intention to present the details to Government in the near future.
The report of the consultative group refers to one estimate which put the scale of the security industry as involving some 400 companies employing over 1 0,000 employees. The report does not contain an estimate of the number of private investigators operating in the industry and there are no such statistics available in my Department.
