Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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72. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the oversight mechanism in her Department for the board appointed to the Private Security Authority and if she is satisfied that the board is acting in a proper manner, including corporate governance, in respect of the supervision by its organisation of access control and CCTV systems where business contractors, many of whom may not be electrical contractors and not be fully competent in electrical wiring or carrying out work, are obliged to follow the requirements of SR40 in terms of ET101 and the ETCI wiring rules; the number of persons licensed by the PSA who have obtained copies of these documents and have certified that they are working in accordance with these rules and the monitoring and the inspection process by the PSA to ensure that these installations are wired correctly from an electrical point of view; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44653/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Private Security Authority (PSA), an independent statutory body under the aegis of my Department, is responsible for the regulation and licensing of the private security industry. Membership of the PSA Board is as prescribed in the Private Security Services Act 2004 (as amended) and includes an officer of my Department. Members of the Board act in accordance with the primary legislation, the Ethics in Public Office Acts, the PSA General Governance Guidelines (which are based on the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies) and the Authority’s Code of Business Conduct. In addition, the Authority is subject to annual audit by my Department and by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

One of the security services prescribed for regulation in the primary legislation is that of 'installer of security equipment' which includes services such as intruder alarms, access control and CCTV. In order to obtain a licence contractors are required to meet standards specified by the Authority. I am informed by the Authority that the standard required for the access control sector is SR 40:2005 - an Irish Standard Recommendation for electronic security services. For CCTV, both the SR 40 standard and PSA 2006:12 are required, the latter being the Authority's requirements for CCTV installation. SR 40 is also the standard for intruder alarms along with two European Standards, EN 50131:1 and EN 50131:7. It is a requirement of SR 40 that all installations comply with the national wiring rules (ET 101). I further understand that compliance with SR 40 is certified on an annual basis by auditing bodies accredited to Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB). The audit includes a visit to at least two installations to ensure full compliance with the standards. Failure to meet the requirements of a standard can result in a licence being suspended or revoked.

In addition, the PSA has informed me that all PSA licensed contractors operate within the regulations set down by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER), the body responsible for the regulation of the electrical industry. Where CER identifies a breach of their electrical regulations involving a PSA licensed contractor the Authority will take action against the licensee. To date, the Authority has not been advised of any such breach.

ET 101 is published by the Electro-Technical Council of Ireland and the Authority is not in a position to say who has obtained copies of same.

The PSA has currently issued over 650 licences in the access control sector, 640 CCTV licences and 610 intruder alarm licences, with contractors observing regulations set by the Authority and the CER. I am satisfied that the Board of the Authority is acting in a proper manner and is applying the required standards of corporate governance and oversight of the Authority's operational remit.