Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have a history on this matter. When I was a Minister some years ago, I provided the first funding for one of these schemes. At that stage, the Department of the Environment and Local Government rather than the Department of Justice and Equality had responsibility for the matter. The funding was provided to pilot a CCTV scheme in the Chairman's county. It is up and running and has been successful, which shows this can be done. We are facing into Brexit with all the potential complications arising from that, whatever the outcome. It is a farce if we cannot sort out data protection and CCTV schemes. This has been going on for years. We all know the issues relating to crime, which I will not go into, but this is a cost-effective way of helping areas to deal with crime. The Chairman and I both deal with the issue of criminals in high-powered vehicles using the motorways to travel up and down to Laois and Tipperary, left, right and centre. A number of areas in my constituency affected by this because they are close to motorways have been granted funding. The issue that arises is who will control the data and where it will be held. The matter has gone back and forward between the Department with responsibility for local government to the Department of Justice and Equality. It is farcical that this cannot be dealt with. A fund is available to be drawn down but there are insufficient applications because the local authorities will not bother to do so on the basis that this issue has not been sorted out.