Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 April 2004
727 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position on grant aid funding towards community based closed circuit television schemes, together with full details of the terms and conditions attached to such funding and the total amount available. [11592/04]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware a grant-aid scheme was launched to facilitate community-based groups who wish to install their own local CCTV system. It will be up to the community groups, in conjunction with the relevant local authority, to install, maintain and monitor the community based CCTV schemes. Subject to the availability of funds, grant assistance of up to €100,000 will be obtainable from my Department towards the cost of such schemes. Within this cash limit, grants of up to 70% of the total capital cost of the system may be considered.
The following are some of the conditions required to be met before an application for funding can be considered. All applications must be accompanied by a letter of approval for the project, signed by the local Garda divisional officer, that is chief superintendent of the Garda Síochána. All applications for funding must be signed by, or on behalf of, a legal entity representing the community-based group, for example a local authority, which will take responsibility for the supply, installation and commissioning of the proposed system. The participating local authority must also undertake to act as data controller for the purposes of data protection legislation.
All proposed community-based CCTV systems must comply with the minimum technical and operational criteria as set out in a document entitled "Technical Specifications". All proposed schemes must cover public areas to which the general public routinely have access. My Department will not provide grant assistance for purely private projects, for example shopping malls, private residences, other private property etc.
All valid applications received will not be automatically entitled to grant aid. Awards will be at the discretion of my Department, subject to the availability of funds and the number of valid applications received. It is not possible to determine the level of funding that will be available for grant assistance under this scheme. The 2004 CCTV budget is more than €4 million and includes expenditure on ongoing maintenance of Garda CCTV schemes as well as the implementation of current and planned schemes.
The Department has received a significant number of expressions of interest — in excess of 200 — in the community-based CCTV scheme. An application prospectus has been prepared by my Department which provides information on how to apply for grant aid, outlines the application process and identifies the main issues that applicants will need to consider. Copies of this prospectus are available on request from my Department's Garda administration division.
A code of practice, drawn up in co-operation with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, and detailed technical specifications, drawn up by the Garda Síochána, are almost complete. When both the code of practice and the technical specifications have been finalised my Department will issue copies of it to all entities that expressed an interest in the community-based CCTV scheme and any applications subsequently received will be evaluated and processed.
