Sinn Féin TD Donna McGettigan has questioned the Taoiseach in the Dáil about the delay in switching on CCTV cameras in Shannon.
Donna said to the Taoiseach, “A number of constituents have raised concerns with me about the CCTV camera system in Shannon Town Park. Despite a number of antisocial behaviour incidents, the cameras are not operational. Under Part 5 of the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act, which was signed into law in December 2023, a code of practice for CCTV was to be drawn up to provide the legal basis for their activation.”
“Almost two years later, however, the code has not been drawn up and Part 5 of the Act has not commenced. Will the Minister for justice, Deputy O’Callaghan, speed up the commencement of Part 5 of the Act? When did he last liaise with the Garda Commissioner on this and when does he plan to do so again? Can we be assured that the Part 5 will be commenced urgently when the code of practice is drawn up?”
Speaking after the Dáil session, Donna told us, “community safety is being jeopardised by this unacceptable delay. I was told in a Parliamentary Question response that “IT IS HOPED” that implementation can take place in 2026, but when in 2026? That could mean a wait of another year. So I put the question directly to the Taoiseach to try to get him to act.
“After the code of practice is drawn up it has to go to the Minister to be signed off, which will cause further delay. I will be pursuing this at every stage to force the government to treat this issue with the urgency it deserves.”