Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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15. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide an update on the progress being made to operationalise community safety partnerships; to outline the timeline, the model and operation of the partnerships; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35632/25]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister has kept to his word and we have the guidelines. I understand it to be seven councillors. What interaction is meant to happen between these partnerships and TDs? I welcome some of the other bodies to be represented on it. I would like to know how they are to be selected. I will ask questions about the ad hocery we had with JPCs in Louth that suited the constituency.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for the question. As he is aware, last week, I signed the regulations for the local community safety partnerships, which came into operation on Monday, 30 June. A total of 36 partnerships can now be established across the country, with partnerships in each local authority administrative area. That means there will be five in Dublin. Each LCSP will be led by a voluntary chair and supported by a full-time co-ordinator and administrator. The chair will be elected from among and by the membership of the safety partnership.

As the Deputy will appreciate, it is my intention that the local community safety partnerships will now be established as soon as is practicable throughout the country. They will replace and build upon the excellent work that was done by the JPCs and will bring together a broader range of people. As I said previously to Deputy Currie, they will have a direct involvement in trying to address many of the issues faced by local communities. The legislation is entitled "Policing, Security and Community Safety". It is not all about policing; there has to be community safety as well. The Garda cannot always deliver it on its own. That is why I welcome that the partnerships will include local councillors and representatives from the HSE, Tusla, the local authority executive, business, education and many others, obviously including An Garda Síochána.

As outlined in the regulations, the safety partnership may hold as many meetings as required but must meet at least six times a year, including one public meeting and one meeting for local authority members and Oireachtas Members. There will be a facility for Members of the Oireachtas to attend at least one meeting.

Each newly established partnership is required to develop and implement its own tailored community safety plan. The partnerships will take a strategic approach to their work so that issues arising can be dealt with in a co-ordinated manner and addressed collectively. Each partnership will have the ability to consider the local landscape. As Minister for justice, I intend to keep a close eye on their being established and to ensure they succeed in their work.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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We all welcome that they are up and running. For too long, we have not had the forum of JPCs, which were useful for engagement with the Garda. We are talking about everything from organised crime right down to chaos and disorganised crime. Tusla, the HSE and those other groups will have a huge role. I would like to know how those other people are to be selected. Not only should we get this up and running very fast, but also there should be some sort of review capacity. Previously, TDs were able to sit on the joint policing committees, which made a difference. I think it was worthwhile at certain points in time. Is the Minister open to reviewing this? Tusla and particularly the HSE are an absolute requirement. I would like to know how the other organisations are going to be in play. We all welcome that we will have something that will be both strategic and thematic, which is necessary.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I note what the Deputy has said about the JPCs, which did a lot of good work. Like me, the Deputy is a former member of a local authority. At stages, they could become very formulaic, with many gardaí, including senior gardaí, sitting there and just engaging directly with local elected councillors on very specific issues. Many of the issues raised at JPCs were issues the Garda could not answer because they related to issues such as housing, health or childcare in terms of the role played by Tusla. There will be a benefit in having a broader range of people on the partnerships.

The Deputy asked if we would be reviewing the partnerships' operation. Of course, I will be keeping a close eye on them and there will be an assessment after a period of time as to the extent to which they are succeeding and achieving the objectives that we all want to see them achieve.

The Deputy asked about the process for the HSE and Tusla to nominate people. In the first instance, those bodies will put people forward and that will be the process by which individuals from those organisations come onto the partnerships.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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My understanding is that nothing is holding this up. It is just a matter of getting it into play as quickly as possible. I understand the process for representation by Tusla, the Garda, the HSE and the local authorities; that is fairly easy. I am talking about the other bodies and organisations, such as community residents associations. How exactly will that work? There is a huge body of work that needs to be done. I welcome that the Minister is talking about the possibility of a review. Many of us believe it was useful when there were joint policing committees. In Louth, joint policing committees were able to operate on the basis of Dundalk and north Louth, Drogheda and south Louth, and Ardee and mid-Louth.

We need to tackle those issues from organised crime right down into chaos and so on. I welcome what was said earlier about the Criminal Assets Bureau. We all know the world we live in. We need to look at the very particular issue we have at this point in time with organised crime and drugs. When certain people have had houses taken off them, they just regard it as the cost of doing business and they are back in operation again. We need a harm-reduction methodology but we also need to give police the ability to police.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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When they are set up, we will look at them. We should not say in the first instance, "Let us start reviewing them." Let us get them up and running. Let us get them operating effectively and successfully. Everyone here wants them to succeed and I know that the partnerships themselves will want to succeed. If we manage to get this right, it will be a major step forward in terms of just raising issues of concern at local authority level. That is where the issues are really highlighted. This will provide a really useful mechanism to raise issues of concern relating to policing, housing and health.

There will be a statutory office in my Department with responsibility for the overview of the partnership scheme. Partnerships will not be set up as individual separate satellites where they operate independently without recourse to what is happening in other areas. The office in my Department will play a crucial role in ensuring that we see a harmonised and effective role throughout the country. There is no reason these cannot succeed and as Minister for justice, I am committed to seeing them succeed.