Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 October 2007
491 Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the extent to which racketeering protection and infiltration of security services have been made known to the Gardaí or his Department; the action taken or expected to be taken; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22865/07]
View answerAnyone wishing to operate in various sectors of the private security industry, to which I assume the Deputy is referring, is now required to hold a licence.
The Private Security Authority, which was established in October 2004, is the statutory body responsible for the regulation of the private security industry and for managing the licensing process. The Authority has put in place stringent criteria to protect the industry from infiltration by criminals. All applicants for licences, including company directors and major shareholders, undergo criminal record checking by An Garda Síochána, and applicants who have resided abroad for 6 months or more must provide a Criminal Record Certificate from that jurisdiction.
Currently, contractors operating in the door supervisor, security guarding, alarm monitoring and intruder alarm installation sectors require a licence as do employees in door supervisor and security guarding. To date the Authority has licensed over 760 contractors and is currently in the process of dealing with 19,000 applications for employee licences.
In addition to criminal record checking all contractors must be tax compliant, hold a relevant standard from the National Standards Authority of Ireland and comply with company law.
The Garda Síochána of course investigates rigorously any reports it receives of illegality within the industry.The Deputy will appreciate that, as with any large organisation, on any given day the strength of the organisation, or units within it, may fluctuate due, for example, to retirements, resignations etc. It is the responsibility of the Garda Divisional Officer to allocate personnel within his or her Division taking everything into account. The situation will be kept under review by the Garda Commissioner and when additional personnel next become available the needs of these Divisions will be fully considered by him within the overall context of the needs of Garda Divisions throughout the country.
