Question:
120 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress on the installation of closed circuit television for Ballyfermot, Dublin 10; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3859/00]
Written Answers. - Closed Circuit Television Systems.
An application for a Garda CCTV system for Ballyfermot was received by the CCTV advisory committee in December 1999. The application is under consideration.
To date, the advisory committee has received in excess of 40 applications for Garda CCTV systems, as aids to policing. Six locations have been prioritised for the installation of such systems – Bray, Cork, Dublin South Central, Dundalk, Finglas and Limerick. The extension of the Garda CCTV system in Dublin to include Grafton Street and its surrounding streets and the installation of a CCTV system in Cork city are the CCTV projects currently being undertaken. The order in which the remaining priority locations will be undertaken has not yet been decided, although it is intended to commence the planning and implementation of Garda CCTV systems in each of the prioritised locations as soon as possible.
Delays have been encountered in progressing various CCTV projects while the demand from various communities for CCTV systems has been very significant. A shortage of technicians in the
telecommunications section of the Garda Síochána has impacted on the progress in implementing CCTV systems, particularly in each of the prioritised the prioritised, locations. Notwithstanding this, it also became evident that the existing approach to CCTV could not cope with the demand and a review of all aspects of CCTV was required. I therefore decided to initiate a review of CCTV and asked the Garda Commissioner to look at this whole area. The review is expected to be completed soon and its findings will then be submitted to me for consideration. I expect that these findings will assist in facilitating and accelerating the installation of Garda CCTV systems in the future.