Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

466. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to outline the roles of the newly appointed local community safety partnership chairpersons, their annual renumeration and the term of their appointment; if local public representatives can be considered for appointment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41590/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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.

Our approach to community safety is a whole-of-Government one. We want to bring the relevant social service providers, including the Gardaí, together with the community in a collaborative manner, by focusing on the concerns identified by the local community itself.

The Partnerships will operate at local authority level and they will replace Joint Policing Committees (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.

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.

Pilot partnerships have been running in Longford, Waterford and Dublin's North Inner City, and each has 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.

Work is underway to ensure local coordinators are appointed for each prospective partnership and that a chair is selected. Assessment panels have commenced for the role of chairperson in a number of local authority areas and nominations for the chairpersons will be submitted to me in due course. I am hopeful that many communities will start to see LCSPs established in their areas over the coming weeks.

The role of the Chairperson will be to lead the work of the Local Community Safety Partnership and find consensus among the partnership's members so that a tailored local community safety plan can be develop. The Chairperson will also drive forward the implementation of the community safety plan across the community, in order that it delivers tangible benefits for the relevant community.

The learnings from the independent evaluation of the LCSP pilots concluded that the role of the Chairperson, particularly in terms of leadership competence and experience, is central to the Partnership.

The Chairperson will:

• Provide leadership and strategic direction,
• Focus the LCSP on making informed decisions and solutions tailored to the needs of the specific community within which they are working,
• Develop and implement the Local Community Safety Plan in conjunction with both the community and public services, and
• Act as an advocate for the LCSP and represent the LCSP to the public, media and other stakeholders as appropriate.