Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 412: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will review the fee structure for the licensing of security employees under the Private Security Authority; if this practice is at odds with European law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29834/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Private Security Authority, established under the Private Security Services Act 2004 is the regulatory body with responsibility for regulating and licensing the private security industry in the State. The Authority is independent in the exercise of its statutory functions. I am informed by the PSA that the Authority has put a licence fee structure in place which reflects the variety between the different sectors of the industry and takes account of companies and employees who might be working in multiple sectors. Fees also take account of the relative size of companies operating in any given sector and the relative salaries of employees working in these sectors. Moreover, the Authority is obliged to become self-financing so licence fees must reflect the overall operating costs of the Authority. The two-year licence fee was set taking into account the huge variety of cost models in the various sectors of the industry. These range from low turnover, low pay, high staffing levels in the guarding sector, to lower staffing levels but higher turnover and higher pay in other sectors such as electronics.

The private security industry itself supports regulation and has actively campaigned for it for many years. The provision of a regulatory environment for the industry will understandably lead to structured cost implications. However, it is the industry, both employees and employers who will benefit from regulation and it is in line with Government policy that industry should fund such a development. The proportionality of the fees was considered by the Private Security Authority which includes industry employee and employer representatives. I am informed by the Private Security Authority that these fees do not interfere with the rights of the worker to earn his or her living in an occupation freely entered upon, under Article 1(2) of the 1996 revised European Social Charter. The industry is now widely regulated in an EU context and until the enactment of the Private Security Services Act 2004 Ireland had the least restrictive regulatory regime of any EU jurisdiction.