Written answers
Thursday, 21 March 2024
Department of Justice and Equality
Crime Prevention
Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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258. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to provide details of the recently announced Ballymun Implementation Board; which departments and agencies will have representatives on the board; if the representatives of various Government departments and agencies on the board will be senior officials; the annual budget for this body; how the new body will align with the local drugs and alcohol task force and the joint policing committee; if the Brighter Ballymun Report will set the agenda for this group; if local members of the Houses of the Oireachtas will have a role in this body; and the inaugural meeting will take place. [13558/24]
Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, I announced the Ballymun Implementation Board, with former Dublin GAA CEO John Costello as Chair, last month. As has already been announced, the Board will be hosted by Dublin City Council, and will include local representatives from the relevant agencies. A list of these agencies was published as part of the announcement of the Board on the Government website: www.gov.ie/en/press-release/8e4dc-minister-mcentee-announces-the-formation-of-a-new-group-to-improve-community-safety-in-ballymun/.
Officials from my Department, the Chair of the new Board, and Dublin City Council, are working together to identify the appropriate ex-officio and other members of the Board necessary in the context of the challenges locally.
In line with other Implementation Boards (Drogheda and Cherry Orchard), the Department of Justice will fund the positions of a coordinator and an administrator as required by the Board.
Specific capital funding is being made available by both Dublin City Council and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, but in line with best practice elsewhere, any projects or interventions which are identified to support community safety in Ballymun will need to be funded through engagement with the relevant agencies who would be mainstream funders of such projects.
The Board's agenda and programme of work, along with its engagement with existing reports and bodies in the area, will be determined over the course of its initial meetings, which it is hoped will commence in the coming weeks.
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