Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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257. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if a specific scheme (details supplied) will be reviewed with a view to providing the scheme free of charge to all communities, including the removal of the initial set-up charges. [50759/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Text Alert Scheme, which was developed with the support of Muintir na Tíre, Neighbourhood Watch and the Irish Farmers Association, was introduced in September 2013. The scheme provides an additional and effective method for Gardaí to distribute crime prevention information and advice. There are in the region of 200,000 text messages sent under the scheme each month.

At the Ploughing Championships in September, I announced that €150,000 would be made available for local communities in 2018 towards the cost of running the Scheme.

I approved €100,00 in funding for these groups in September 2017, which was also announced at that year's Ploughing Championships. This was topped up in December 2017 by a further €50,000. In the end, requests for amounts totalling €125,000 (out of the €150,000 available) were received from Muintir na Tíre and paid out to 441 groups in respect of the full year 2017.

A payment of between €200-€350 was made to each group in 2017 to offset the costs incurred by these local groups, where this spend could be supported with documentation. It has been open to groups who have incurred expenditure related to the scheme to provide supporting documentation to Muintir na Tíre and to seek payment and that remains the case for 2018.

The Garda authorities indicate that Text Alert has been a highly effective crime prevention initiative since it was launched in 2013. The proposed rebate scheme, which was developed after consultation with the Garda authorities and detailed discussions with Muintir na Tíre, provides a tangible recognition by the Minister of the considerable voluntary effort which goes into Text Alert and similar community-based schemes and it is in keeping with a commitment in the Programme for Government.

In addition to the text alert scheme, I should also mention that, for many years, my Department has supported community crime prevention by providing funding for the Community Alert programme, which is operated by Muintir na Tíre in partnership with the Garda authorities. My Department does not provide direct funding to local groups, but funding is provided in relation to the employment and associated costs of the national service, including regional Development Officers. The long-standing view has been that this is the best use of the resources available to my Department to support effective community crime prevention actions.