James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire agus buíochas a ghabháil leis as teacht isteach.

I raise this issue of concern that came to light on Thursday, 10 May at the Fingal, Balbriggan and Swords council area meeting, which Councillor Tom O'Leary attended. A motion was discussed seeking support for a CCTV proposal for the town of Donabate, a town that does not have a Garda station. I am aware that Balbriggan would also like to install a CCTV system in certain areas of that town. The written reply to the request, which was supplied by the council officials, stated, among other things, that at the present time local authorities have been advised to defer any CCTV programmes within their administrative areas until data protection issues have been reviewed and clear guidance from the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has issued. It stated also that it would be premature at this point to commence multi-agency discussions on a CCTV system in Donabate until a clear framework regarding the installation, operation and use of CCTV is available.

Apparently the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, has issued an instruction or recommendation to all local authorities that all CCTV camera proposals for crime prevention, anti-social behaviour monitoring and, indeed, illegal dumping monitoring and evidence gathering are not to proceed, pending clarification from the Data Protection Commissioner on the new general data protection regulation, GDPR, due to be introduced on 25 May 2018.

What are the implications of this and what impact will it have on the status of current community and commercial CCTV systems? Can they continue to operate and be used in crime detection and deterrence? I presume there is CCTV in the precincts of Dáil Éireann and in the grounds around this building, so what is the status of that under GDPR?

I congratulate the Minister and his Department for promoting a grants scheme for CCTV nationally. The recommendation of the LGMA seems to have stalled the roll-out of these existing schemes and is stymieing new applications. I am aware the Minister issued a press statement on 25 April on this. The grants scheme provides up to 60% of the capital costs of the closed circuit TV to a maximum of €40,000 and is much welcomed. There is a great appetite for it. There is €1 million available each year for community CCTV schemes.

The gardaí have reviewed these schemes and their effectiveness and have used them in almost every criminal investigation, during major public events and sporting occasions and in the investigation of road traffic accidents. They are clearly very valuable in bringing criminals to justice and in preventing crime.

It is absolutely unreasonable that the CCTV system should now be stalled or put at risk by the new GDPR as it is currently being interpreted by some parties. We are all aware of a famous former UK politician who was on the "The Pat Kenny Show" recently and who said she received a £30 sterling fine for driving in a bus lane and that the ticket was issued as a result of CCTV. This seems to be a very efficient way of upholding the law. It is also very important in regard to illegal dumping and I read only recently that the council in Athlone had a debate on this at which one of our Fine Gael councillors raised the matter and asked if Athlone would now be faced a bill for €90,000 for illegal dumping?

It is very important that we get clarity from the Data Protection Commissioner as quickly as possible. The detection of criminals and persons engaged in anti-social behaviour and in illegal dumping in our lovely countryside should not be stalled by the general data protection regulation. We need to sort this out and I would very much welcome the assistance of the Minister in clarifying this matter so that communities around the country and, indeed, in Fingal can benefit from the Minister's new scheme.