Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

These people think that it is worth noting that so and so "waz here". Nobody wants to know that they were and would prefer if they were not there in the first place. We want to have these places open and available to people as these are the public's assets. All of our keyholders are local people around the country. For a really small amount of remuneration they do a huge public service in locking and unlocking these places every day of the week.

CCTV is fine but then there is the general data protection regulation, GDPR, data storage and who becomes a data handler, and everything else, and you wonder whether it is us, Clare County Council or the Garda that is responsible for all of this. Also, we do not own the property outside.

We will keep an open mind about this matter. I am not satisfied with the fact that yobs destroy national heritage and use them a public lavatory, which is another problem. Clare Abbey is located close to a motorway. Some people, after they come off the motorway, tip all of their rubbish out on the ground and expect Clare County Council to clean it up. It is not just rubbish that is dumped but everything else as well. The Deputy is right that some of these places have become places synonymous with the most unsavoury activity. We work with the Garda and the local community. We rely on the local community to alert us to these problems because we all own these buildings and they are not just the property of the people who live in a particular parish. It would be great if we could keep the yobs out of these places. Whatever deterrents we will be able to use, we certainly will consider them.