John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 773: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when the code of practice and the technical specifications for community based closed circuit television schemes will be finalised and copies of same issued to all communities and organisations which have expressed an interest in these schemes. [11155/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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As the Deputy is aware, in May 2002, my predecessor laid the groundwork for a grant aid scheme to facilitate community-based groups who wish to press ahead with their own local CCTV system.

It is my intention now to implement that scheme with clear details of the application process, terms and conditions, a timescale within which to apply in the first round and a clear commitment as to when funding will be available.

To this end, a project board was convened in January 2005 to arrange the commencement of the community-based CCTV scheme as soon as practical and possible and to oversee the implementation of the scheme. The membership of this project board consists of representatives of my Department, the Garda Síochána, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland.

A number of meetings of the board have been held to date where a wide range of topics have been discussed and agreement reached on a number of items, including the code of practice and technical specifications required for the scheme.

I am also delighted to say that further to discussions between our respective Departments, my colleague, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív, has given a commitment to provide successful applications from RAPID areas with a further grant to a maximum of €100,000. This means that RAPID areas wishing to install their own CCTV system will be able to avail of an overall maximum grant of up to €200,000, subject to the terms and conditions of the scheme.

A decision has also been taken to engage Area Development Management Limited, ADM, to administer and project manage the scheme and evaluate applications in light of its experience with the child care and equality for women measures funded by my Department.

There is a demonstrated demand from local communities across Ireland for the provision of community CCTV systems. In some areas, significant work has been done in developing proposals which will allow communities to quickly define their needs and submit high-quality proposals for funding which have broad local support and high levels of sustainability. In many other areas, however, communities will not yet be ready to fully utilise funds and will need time to develop sustainable proposals. ADM will provide pre-development supports for such areas to assist in the formulation of high-quality proposals which will have the necessary elements of local support and sustainability.

Based on the progress of the board to date, I intend to launch this scheme in the coming weeks as outlined. By the end of July 2005 we should know the list of applications to be funded in the first round. By year end, these communities could be well on the way to having their CCTV systems in place.