Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 888: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he evaluates the performance of the pilot programme of joint policing committees; the status of the pilot programme; when he intends to roll out the programme of joint policing committees on a nationwide basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30213/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Joint Policing Committees are provided for in the Garda Síochána Act 2005. As a Committee will be established in each local authority area in the State — of which there are 114 — it was considered desirable to run a time-limited pilot to gain experience in their operation before countrywide roll-out. Twenty nine Committees are currently operating in the pilot phase. As part of the evaluation of the pilot phase, my predecessor as Minister and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government hosted a consultation seminar last November, at which participants in the pilot Committees considered the lessons from the operation of the Committees to date. A very useful seminar, organised by Co-operation Ireland, was also held in Monaghan in May, at which participants in the Committees and in the nearest equivalent bodies in Northern Ireland, the District Policing Partnerships, discussed their experiences.

Amended Guidelines to allow full roll-out of the Committees have been drafted in consultation with the Ministers for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, as provided for in the Garda Síochána Act 2005, and with the assistance of interested parties, including an Garda Síochána and representatives of local authority members and management. I have today launched these new Guidelines. As a result, a Committee will be established in each local authority area in the country where a Committee is not already established. I believe that, over time, the Committees will make an enormous contribution to keeping our communities safe. Fundamentally, they represent a partnership between the people, through their representatives, and An Garda Síochána.