Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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174. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when community safety partnerships will be established; if he is aware that the delay is impacting communities where task forces on antisocial behaviour are unable to be established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36318/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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At the outset, I acknowledge the Deputy's concerns and I want to repeat that it is absolutely my intention that the Local Community Safety Partnerships will be established as soon as practicable. The Partnerships are the cornerstone of our policy on community safety and so it is vital we get them up and running so that they can begin work on the development of a community safety plan for their respective areas.

Last week I signed the regulations for the safety partnerships and these came into operation on Monday, 30 June. This now paves the way for a total of 36 partnerships to be established across the country with partnerships in each local authority administrative area.

The regulations outline very clearly how the safety partnerships will operate in practice and will ensure that each partnership operates with transparency, strategic focus, and strong local engagement.

A key principle of the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland is that community safety requires multi-agency cooperation working in partnership with An Garda Síochána and crucially with communities themselves. The Commission's report recommended the establishment of national and local structures to bring together Departments and State agencies involved in harm prevention, alongside representatives of the local community, to promote community safety.

Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSPs) will replace and build upon the good work of the Joint Policing Committees, supplementing this by bringing together a broader range of relevant stakeholders. This will include local councillors, An Garda Síochána, local residents, community representatives, business and education representatives, and a range of statutory agencies including the HSE, Tusla and each local authority.

I believe they will be very effective in seeking to achieve what is set out in the legislation, namely to have a broader representation within the partnerships so the issues affecting local communities, not just in respect of policing but also in community safety, can be dealt with in one forum within the local authority.