Mr. Jack Nolan:

The JPCs were established under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, allowing a forum for meetings between An Garda Síochána, local authorities, elected and community representatives. This enables a joint understanding of the challenges associated with policing at a local level. A chief superintendent or superintendent attends all JPC meetings. I attend the Dublin city JPC every month, which includes elected and community representatives, along with other representatives from non-governmental organisations etc. At those meetings, local problems and particular issues of the day are discussed.

In early September the Policing Authority held a forum for all chairs of JPCs. An Garda Síochána was represented at that meeting and although we did not have a direct role in the consultation process on the day, we attended as observers. We have a central monitoring office for the JPCs across the organisation and that unit is based in our community engagement section in Harcourt Square in Dublin. Our representatives monitor the annual reports from the JPCs.

In effect, the JPCs allow an understanding, awareness and joint action in many areas associated with problems relating to crime or other social or anti-social issues that emerge at a local level. It is a very effective partnership arrangement between the JPCs and An Garda Síochána. It has been pretty good for the past ten years and it was reviewed a couple of years ago, with a revision from 121 JPCs to 31 committees now. That streamlined attendances, processes and procedures. It also required each JPC to create a strategic plan for that JPC over a number of years. It is a very good engagement forum between communities, local government and authorities and An Garda Síochána.

The Commissioner asked me to address the Text Alert scheme. As Senator Conway stated, this again has been an innovative development in community engagement, safety and policing. It emerged both from An Garda Síochána and the communities themselves. Technology had caught up on communications forums and mechanisms and An Garda Síochána was happy to harness that. At that time I had responsibility for the sections that developed the process, and they worked in close partnership with Muintir na Tíre, a wonderful organisation operating in every part of the country. At the same time, the Irish Farmers Association sought to be involved in the process and we were able to develop it with a tripartite approach. It is a text alert system with almost 1,000 units or neighbourhoods attached. I attended meetings in all parts of the country when I was in that role in the south-eastern region. There have been millions of text messages issued. An Garda Síochána has had some substantial successes as a result of the community engagement in various parts of the country as a result.

I am conscious the Irish Farmers Association is currently developing another version of it entirely for the farming association. We have a phenomenon of rural crime and it will probably be addressed later. This is response mechanism by An Garda Síochána, working in close collaboration with our partner agencies. There will be other partner agencies that will engage over time.

Other developments in the area, which we may deal with from a crime prevention aspect, include the TheftStop initiative, which was again developed through collaboration of An Garda Síochána and the Irish Farmers Association. It is designed to enable property items in farming and rural areas to be easily identifiable. The amount of property stolen that has been marked with a specific and unique identifying number is minimal. At every forum I attend, I encourage people to engage with the initiative. It is relatively cheap but there is a slight charge. Everything costs money nowadays. The Senator mentioned the cost of the Text Alert scheme, which is primarily associated with insurance so that any person passing on a text alert message is indemnified if there is fall-out from it. I have always been very keen to emphasise engagement with Text Alert schemes through Muintir na Tíre, which has the structure to set it up and the facilities for insurance covering all participants. I have no doubt there will be further development in the area of Text Alert, TheftStop and other initiatives that we are progressing with partner agencies across the country at this point.