Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 506: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if a closed circuit television system will be approved for Listowel, County Kerry, due to the increase in incidents of anti-social behaviour in the town; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5070/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I am informed by the Garda authorities that all applications for Garda CCTV town centre systems must be prepared in co-operation with the local Garda district and divisional officers and must receive their full support. The application is then considered by the CCTV advisory committee which makes a recommendation, through the Garda Commissioner, to me. Applications are assessed by the committee on the basis of Garda operational needs against the following objective criteria: crime-public order statistics in an area; population and level of activity in the area; the recommendation of local Garda management; any special circumstances or needs that exist; and the likely impact of a Garda CCTV system on the area.

The Garda authorities advise that, to date, no formal application for a Garda CCTV system in Listowel has been received by the CCTV advisory committee. It is open to any organisation in Listowel to submit such an application to the committee through their local Garda divisional officer.

As the Deputy may be aware, I launched the community based CCTV scheme last year in response to a demonstrated demand from local communities across Ireland for the provision of CCTV systems. The purpose of the scheme is to support local communities which wish to install and maintain CCTV security systems in their area, with the aim of increasing public safety and reducing the risk of anti-social and criminal activity. The closing date for receipt of applications was 20 September 2005.

Under this scheme, communities could apply of grant aid funding of up to €100,000 from the Department to install a CCTV system in their area. In addition, the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs gave a commitment to provide successful applicants from RAPID areas with a further grant to a maximum of €100,000 subject to the total grant aid from both Departments not exceeding €200,000 or 100% of the capital costs of the project, whichever is the lesser.

The community based CCTV scheme offered two stages or options which were designed to meet the requirements of communities in both these scenarios. Stage 1 offered pre-development supports and possible funding for organisations-groups which were not yet ready to develop their proposals fully or utilise funds. The stage 2 process offered a direct application process to access funds to those organisations which could demonstrate an ability to develop and deliver a CCTV programme immediately.

More than €1 million in grant aid has already been allocated to 37 communities under the scheme and many of these could see their CCTV systems in operation before the end of the year. I plan to make a further call for proposals under the scheme in the coming months and it is open to community groups in Listowel to submit an application for funding under the scheme when it is announced.