John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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1570.To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of community safety audits that have been carried out in Wicklow in the past five years, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32540/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Community safety is about people being safe and, importantly, feeling safe in their own communities. At the heart of this policy is the principle that every community has the right to be and feel safe in order to thrive and flourish.

I understand that community safety audits refer to a practice of local people moving through their community to identify where people may feel safe, where they may not feel safe, and to propose solutions. Traditionally, Joint Policing Committees (JPCs) have provided one forum where these issues could be discussed. Alternatively, members of a community would raise these issues directly with local members of An Garda Síochána. or, indeed, their local Community Gardaí. Given the nature of these interactions, I am not in a position to provide figures in relation to the number of community safety audits carried out in Wicklow.

As the Deputy may be aware, our approach to community safety is a whole-of-Government one. We want to bring the relevant social service providers and the Gardaí together with the community in a collaborative manner, by focusing on the concerns identified by the local community itself. No one knows better than those who live in a community what its needs are.

That is why we have enacted legislation which will provide for Local Community Safety Partnerships. Each newly established LCSP will be required to develop and implement its own tailored community safety plan and will take a strategic approach to their work so that issues arising can be dealt with in a coordinated manner; addressed collectively by relevant service providers in partnership with the community.

To inform the development of this community-led approach to community safety, pilot partnerships have been running in Longford, Waterford and Dublin's North Inner City. Each partnership, based on an analysis of the needs of that particular area, published a local community safety plan, which are available on the respective local authority websites. The plans set out a number of agreed actions to be undertaken by the members of the partnerships to enhance community safety in that area.

The Partnerships will operate at local authority level and they will replace JPCs. The Partnerships will have a wider membership than JPCs and will include residents, local councillors, community representatives (including representatives of young people, older people, new and minority communities), business and education representatives and a range of public services including the HSE, Tusla, An Garda Síochána and the local authority.

A key learning from the pilot partnerships is that each partnership should hold some flexibility of membership and process, depending on their local context. With the benefit of the independent evaluation and learning from the pilot partnerships, a large amount of these matters relating to the operation of the partnerships can be dealt with through the national strategy and national guidance notes, in order to facilitate a high level of local flexibility and focus.

I will also be establishing a National Office for Community Safety, which will have responsibility for delivering the objectives of the national strategy. The National Office will provide training, guidance and other support to the Local Community Safety Partnerships.

Work is underway to ensure local coordinators are appointed for each prospective partnership and that a chair is selected. An Expression of Interest process will be undertaken by each Local Authority to identify a suitable Chairperson for each Local Community Safety Partnership over the course of the summer. I understand that the closing date for the expression of interest to identify a chairperson for the Wicklow LCSP closed last week, 15 July. I am hopeful that many communities will start to see Local Community Safety Partnerships established in their areas over the coming months.