David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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43. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will outline the main benchmarks achieved by the Private Security Authority in 2021; her future plans, if any, for the authority; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60515/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As Deputy is aware, the Private Security Authority (PSA) is an important body tasked with regulating the activities of those involved in the private security industry to ensure that the interests of consumers are fully protected through the establishment, promotion, monitoring and enforcement of appropriate standards.

In 2021 the PSA continued their commitment to meeting the highest standards of regulation and ran a number of public information campaigns across radio, newspapers and trade magazines to raise awareness of the benefits of a regulated security industry.

Minister McEntee recently published the PSA 2021 Annual Report detailing progress made on improving regulation in the access control sector of the industry. To summarise the activity of the PSA in numbers for 2021:

- 1,447 contractors licensed

- 32,439 individuals licensed

- 164 licences revoked

- New standard published for Access Control

- 870 enforcement cases

- €2,638,738 income from fees

- 10,498 applications processed

In 2021, the Private Security Services (Amendment) Act 2021 extended licensing requirements to enforcement guards, who are responsible for assisting in enforcing civil court orders. The Authority established a working group to develop the licensing requirements for enforcement guards and launched a public consultation on the requirements for contractors in December 2021.During the year the PSA also worked on improving regulation across the security industry, continued with the publication of PSA 67:2021, a new standard for the access control sector, and improving the oversight of the bodies auditing these standards.

As to the future, I know the Private Security Authority and the Board have submitted the fifth Strategic Plan in 2022, which builds on the success to date. In particular, I look forward to the upcoming regulation of enforcement guards. This will be another important step forward for the Private Security Authority and one I know will be very welcomed by society as a whole.

The Private Security Annual Report 2021 can be accessed on the Gov.ie website.