CCTV for Rural Communities

Minister for Environment, Community & Local Government Alan Kelly has announced pilot rural CCTV camera surveillance schemes for Birdhill and Burgess.

Part of an €80,000 investment, the scheme also includes motorway CCTV for Littleton. Minister Kelly confirmed that his Department has been working with An Garda Síochána, local authorities and communities in Birdhill, Burgess and Littleton for some time in relation to the provision of CCTV cameras in strategic positions in rural locations, with the aim of increasing public safety and deterring criminal or antisocial behaviour. He said the projects would be brought forward over the coming months.

“This will act not only as a deterrent but also assist with the possible prosecution of offenders through facilitating the detection and investigation of offences, as well as providing recorded evidence of occurrences of incidents and also facilitating quicker responses,” Minister Kelly said.

The Government is committed to tackling crime in both rural and urban communities and to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources to deliver highly-mobile and responsive Garda patrols in all communities. The 2016 Budget allocation of €1.5 billion for An Garda Síochána includes over €67 million in additional funding, which will allow the recruitment of 600 new Gardaí on top of the 550 Gardaí recruited since this Government reopened the Garda College in September 2014. It will also provide additional funding for Garda Surveillance, special operations and targeted, intelligence-led policing. This additional recruitment and budget allocation builds on the current high level of investment in Garda vehicles. Taken together, this step-change in investment in policing will ensure that the Gardaí can be mobile, visible and responsive, on the roads and in the community.