Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The objective is to have one community safety partnership per local authority. In Galway and Cork, for example, there are city and county councils so there would be two partnership in those counties. Obviously in Dublin there are four local authorities but the intention is that there will be many more than four partnerships, given the population numbers and density. A final decision has not been made on the total but we are engaging with the local authorities to identify what they feel, based on population, would be optimal. I am aware there are certain fora operating at the moment. We have some pilot partnerships under way like the Cherry Orchard board and the Drogheda implementation board and there is provision in the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill, which we hope to pass tomorrow, to allow these fora to continue working separately to, but alongside the partnerships. There could be an overall partnership in an area and it might have a separate forum specific to one area that the partnership feels needs an intense focus and priority. That group can operate separately and that is provided for in the legislation. Where there are no fora already in existence, for example, in a large county like my own in Meath, there will be one partnership but it might be decided that one particular town needs a subgroup or a separate forum that will operate with the partnership but will effectively be separate and will focus solely on that one area and that is provided for and allowed in the legislation as well.