In news that will be welcomed by rural communities right across Laois, there has been a breakthrough on the roll-out of rural CCTV schemes for the county. The impediment had been to secure agreement around the issue of data controller and this has now been resolved.
Following protracted discussions and numerous meetings Laois County Council has committed to take responsibility as data controller clearing the way for numerous neighbourhood watch groups in the county to finally get their CCTV projects off the ground. The rural CCTV initiatives are seen as a major success and a key deterrent to curbing crime particularly from farms and isolated homesteads.
The then Minister, Alan Kelly, rolled out a pilot Rural CCTV Scheme in late 2015 to a handful of groups nationwide. Durrow and Borris-in-Ossory were well prepared and availed of the government support which relied on matching funding and data control and planning issues being resolved to the satisfaction of the Gardai, the County Council and the Data Protection Commissioner.
Durrow and Borris received crucial grant assistance at the time of €50k and €30 which was instrumental in providing the resources to allow them go operational in 2016. However, after that the expansion of the scheme stalled due to data control issues, even though the pilot was deemed a great success.
It was a big disappointment to many communities who had raised significant funds, had identified the location for cameras, who applied and qualified for matching State funding, only to be stymied at the final phase and failure to reach agreement around the onerous task of data control.
The monthly meeting of Laois County Council heard that this has now been sorted following a series of meetings and workshops and thanks to the support of the Chief Executive, John Mulholland, the intervention of Minister Charlie Flanagan and the co-operation of the Federation of Community Alert Groups, the Gardai, all proving instrumental in securing the breakthrough.
Based on commitments from the Federation of community alert groups in the county, the Council will take responsibility for data controller and this now opens the way for the groups to secure government funding and install the CCTV schemes at a variety of locations. It is expected that many could be in place by the summer months.
Cllr James Kelly commended the Chief Executive, John Mullholland and all those involved in resolving the impasse.
“I’m delighted that there is now light at the end of the tunnel on the community CCTV. It was a hard struggle but there is an end in sight, with Laois County Council as data controller. It means a lot to communities in their fight against crime and I would like to see us expedite this process to get the CCTV projects off the ground.”
Cllr Brendan Phelan too was pleased with the latest development. “We have raised this on numerous occasions and I understand that the Manager was reluctant to expose his staff to court proceedings and the cost involved as data controller. This has been going on for two to three years since the scheme was announced and the matching funding is sitting there in accounts and left in abeyance.
“The groups that are up and running prove that it works and they have stopped crime. I am sure that a number of burglaries in the Donaghmore area would have been prevented too if we had cameras in place,”
Rural crime hasn’t gone away, said Cllr Mary Sweeney and the community alert groups are relieved by this positive outcome.
She encouraged the groups to be pro-active now and embrace the opportunity as they had already raised a lot of finance.
Cllr Tom Mulhall thanked the Chief Executive and the Garda Superintendent for their role in sorting out the data controller issue as it is a great boost and a great help to the community groups.
Only this week they had received text alerts from the Garda warning them to be vigilant, Cllr John Joe Fennelly told the meeting. He said this is exactly what the local authority should be doing, working in partnership with the community.
The Chairman, Cllr John King thanked Minister Flanagan and the Chief Executive for sorting out the impediments. There are two schemes ready to go in his area and the hope is they will draw down the government funding before May.
Cllr Paddy Bracken said they were prepared in Mountmellick too, ready to draw down the funding and awaiting the go-ahead.
The Chief Executive, Mr Mullholland said that they had reached a satisfactory solution with the Federation groups and the other stakeholders following two successful workshops.
He assured the meeting that the Council won’t be hanging around and would be engaging with the Department and looking for the earliest possible roll out of the CCTV schemes.
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