Vol. 491 No. 4
110 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when Garda CCTV systems will be installed as a priority in Dublin South Central; the guidelines that will be used for their installation; the amount of funding to be devoted to this project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12484/98]
At present six locations have been prioritised for the installation of Garda CCTV systems as an aid to policing. They are as follows: Bray, Cork, Dublin (South Central), Dundalk, Finglas and Limerick.
The order in which the CCTV systems will be installed in the six locations in question has yet to be finalised. Financial and resource considerations will be among the factors which will determine the order in which the systems will be installed. While the Dublin (South Central) area is included in the six priority locations I am not in a position at this juncture to give an indication of when work on the system will commence. Officials from my Department and the Garda authorities are currently examining how best to progress matters.
As far as the Garda Síochána is concerned the potential crime prevention capacity is the most important consideration when evaluating an application for a Garda CCTV system. It should further be noted that CCTV systems are not in any way a replacement for Garda personnel but are an aid to existing Garda resources. The extension of these systems to other areas must be viewed in the context of overall policing operations and carefully planned and integrated into Garda operational procedures.
A CCTV advisory group, comprising higher Garda officers and a representative from my Department, has been set up by the Garda Commissioner to examine the future of CCTV as an aid to policing with a view to determining priority of the applications received for the installation of CCTV systems. In considering any location for the installation of a Garda CCTV system it takes into account matters such as the present crime rate and public disorder offences in the particular area under consideration, together with crime trends and population growth. It is also required to evaluate each application from a technical and telecommunications perspective while also taking into consideration the level of finance available from my Department and from local business-community sources.
