Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 January 2021
636. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Justice if there is assistance available for a person living alone in a secluded area who is in receipt of a widow's pension (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4014/21]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that my Department does not provide funding for the installation of intruder alarms.
However, I understand that the Department of Social Protection, under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance Scheme, may make an exceptional needs payment to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. An urgent needs payment may be made to persons who may not normally qualify for supplementary welfare allowance but who have an urgent need which they cannot meet from their own resources or where an alternative is not available at that time.
As the Deputy may be aware, the Department of Rural and Community Development funds the Senior Alert Scheme, which provides grant assistance towards the purchase and installation of personal monitored alarms for persons aged 65 or older and of limited means.
The objective of the Seniors Alert Scheme is to encourage community support for vulnerable older people in our communities through the provision of personal monitored alarms to enable older persons, of limited means, to continue to live securely in their homes with confidence, independence and peace of mind. I am advised that the grant assistance is made available through community, voluntary and not-for-profit organisations that are registered with Pobal. Any decision to extend the scheme to house alarms, rather than personal alarms, would be a matter for the Minister for Rural and Community Development.
The Deputy may be interested in the work of the National Rural Safety Forum, which brings together An Garda Síochána, my Department and the Department of Rural & Community Development, alongside national and local organisations including the Irish Farmers Association, Muintir na Tíre and the GAA. The purpose of the Forum is to develop a nationwide network for the distribution of crime prevention advice, increase engagement within communities and prevent and reduce opportunities for crime.
The Department of Justice has also for many years provided funding for the employment and associated costs of the national Community Alert Programme, including the employment of regional Development Officers. These Development Officers provide support to Community and Text Alert schemes and offer advice on how to establish new schemes.
This year, the Department of Justice has committed in the region of €150,000 to local communities who wish to apply for a rebate towards the costs associated with running their local Text Alert Scheme, which is administered by Muintir na Tíre. This is a continuation of the annual funding made available by my Department for the Text Alert Rebate scheme each year since 2016.
The Deputy will be aware of Operation Thor, which is designed to specifically tackle the increase in the number of burglaries and associated criminal activity that usually occurs in the winter months by undertaking targeted enforcement and preventative activity. This year's Winter Phase of Operation Thor began on 1 October 2020 and will run until the end of March 2021. This initiative, which also features the Lock Up and Light Up public awareness campaign encouraging homeowners to protect their homes over the winter months when burglaries tend to increase, has led to a very significant and sustained decline in burglaries and property-related crime since its introduction in 2015.
A key pillar of the Programme for Government, Our Shared Future, is building stronger and safer communities and, I can assure the Deputy that the government are committed to ensuring that there is strong, visible community policing right across Ireland, both rural and urban.
To this end, the Department has secured an unprecedented €1.952 billion for An Garda Síochána in Budget 2021. This level of funding is enabling sustained, ongoing recruitment of Garda members and staff. There are now approximately 14,500 Garda members and over 3,100 Garda staff nationwide.
While An Garda Síochána has provided very dedicated service to assisting in the national effort to combat the threat of COVID-19, ordinary policing has of course also continued throughout the period.
Finally, my Department is developing a community safety policy, which is aimed at ensuring communities are safe and feel safe, through the establishment of inter-agency structures called Local Community Safety Partnerships. These proposals are contained in the Policing and Community Safety Bill, which is being worked on at present in my Department and the proposed approach will be rolled out and tested in three pilot locations this year.
