Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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131. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will outline any engagement there has been between his Department and any other agency on the preparation of the establishment of the community safety partnerships; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23475/25]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I ask the Minister about the establishment of the community safety partnerships. There is much in this we welcome, including the involvement of the Garda, the local authorities, the HSE and other stakeholders. However, there are questions about the membership, especially about which elected representatives will be on it and how they will operate. Local authorities have issues with who can be the chairs. The biggest issue is the timeline. If the Minister has any proposal to make changes, what are they and how does he propose they will happen? Could we not even have the possibility of the JPC operating in the interim?

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. If he will permit me, I will return briefly to something Deputies Carthy and Gannon raised. They talked about exit interviews from An Garda Síochána. What I should have mentioned in my answer was that exit interviews were done in 2024 and the main reason gardaí left was referred to as "family circumstances", namely, gardaí found it difficult to maintain their careers as Garda members while also managing family life.

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for his question about community safety partnerships. As a former member of a local authority, he will know JPCs were an invaluable way for elected representatives to get information from An Garda Síochána. The purpose of the new scheme of community safety partnerships is to ensure that continues, but that it is broadened with the presence of other statutory agencies. I hope to sign regulations providing for the rules and mechanisms for these community safety partnerships in the very near future. I do not want to give the Deputy a specific date. I am hoping to do it very soon, but it will be done in the very near future. I have also signed into law the order required for the purpose of establishing the steering group that will be necessary to evaluate these new community partnerships. They will be an invaluable addition. They will enable individuals who are local representatives of the community to talk to gardaí and agencies like the HSE, Tusla and Cuan in order to ensure there is a proper discussion of the important information that needs to be communicated in respect of a local community.

As for the chair, the role is pivotal to the partnerships achieving their full potential. In advance of the commencement of the Act and in order to be well prepared, my Department has invited local authorities to select suitable chairs through an expression of interest process. I am committed to ensuring the local community safety partnerships are effective and robust from the outset. Over the course of preparing the necessary regulations to establish the partnerships, it became clear they would have to elect a chair from within their membership. I will set out more detail about that in due course, but it is an important part of the accountability of local government.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. The main thing is that "very soon" needs to be very soon. We need to see these up and running and I will put the question back in the short term because of the anomaly that JPCs, which did great work, are not in existence now. Would it be possible to have them in the short term?

Is the Minister proposing any changes to community safety partnerships? There are certain things we would all like to see in terms of ensuring there are sufficient elected representatives and others on the partnerships. I also accept we need to have something that is fit for purpose from an operational point of view.

We all spoke about the loss of Garda Kevin Flatley. We had a garda in Dundalk on routine patrol who was injured in the last while and we know of the huge issues there are with crime. Great strides have been made with organised crime recently in my constituency but we need to do a lot more. It is necessary we have a fit-for-purpose means of engagement with the other statutory agencies along with the Garda, because sometimes the Garda ends up carrying the can for the HSE and others.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy makes a very valid point. The whole logic behind establishing the LCSPs was to ensure we broadened it out so that it was not just a member of An Garda Síochána who was having to answer questions related to the HSE or other statutory agencies. As any member of a local authority will know, when it comes to responding to issues that arise in our community, it is very seldom the case there is just one statutory entity of which we can say it has responsibility and it will deal with it. In the area of criminal justice, we know from the many examples we have all received that it can be the Garda in the first instance, but there may also be an issue in respect of housing, the HSE or Tusla. The whole purpose behind the new statutory scheme for local community safety partnerships is so it is broadened out to include them.

I recognise the importance of elected representatives and we must ensure they remain central to the new partnerships. However, there is broader and different experience that will be included.

When the regulations are signed by me, which will be done very shortly, I think the Deputy will be pleased with them. If he is not, I have no doubt I will hear from him.