Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 243: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of licences issued by the Private Security Authority, which was established pursuant to the Private Security Services Act 2004; the number of these firms which have been vetted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35469/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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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. The Authority is an independent body under the aegis of my Department and the administration of the Authority is vested in its Board Membership. My Department is therefore not involved in the day to day running of the Authority and the processing of licence applications is a matter solely for the Authority. I am however advised by the Authority that as at 9 October 2009, approximately 770 contractors have received licences from the Private Security Authority to provide services in the private security industry. In addition, over 25,650 individual licences, entitling the holder to operate as an employee in the security industry, have also been issued.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the vetting of applicants is an integral part of the licensing process. In the case of contractor licensing, all directors of a company, the partners in a partnership, all sole traders and any shareholder in a company with a shareholding of 20% or more are vetted, on the Authority's behalf, by An Garda Síochána. All applicants for individual licences also go through the vetting process. Since the Authority commenced licensing in 2006 over 33,000 persons have been vetted by An Garda Síochána for such purposes.