Cork towns unable to progress crime-busting CCTV projects as An Garda has yet to submit key rules

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

For the past two years local authorities haven’t been able to move forward with existing or new CCTV schemes as they await for An Garda Síochána to submit an operational code of practice to the minister for justice, councillors in Cork were told this week.

The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023 was signed into law in December 2023, repealing the current authorisation process for community CCTV. However, the legislation can’t come into force until the code of practice is submitted and approved and a commencement order authorising community CCTV is then signed.

Cllr Ian Doyle put forward a motion at this week’s meeting of Cork County Council calling for an update on the current status of CCTV in the county’s towns. He said that back in 2014 municipal districts earmarked funding for CCTV to help curb anti-social behaviour but then “GDPR came into play. So all our planned extensions for towns like Fermoy, Mitchelstown, Charleville and others and also the existing CCTVs were null and void.”

Cllr Marie O’Sullivan supported the motion. “In Kinsale we've recently had a lot of anti-social behaviour regarding public amenities, especially the toilets, which has cost already a lot of money to fix. I think the only way is having evidence of somebody doing something.”

"There was an elderly person tried videoing people who were doing damage to the toilets and they were threatened by these individuals so I think we need some sort of system in our towns to keep the area safe for everyone,” she said.

Cllr Sheila O’Callaghan agreed. “Recently we had a break-in in a garage in Watergrasshill and the Gardaí approached people to know could they see their CCTV footage. So obviously it's a huge assistance but it's a pity that they have to rely on individual businesses to provide that footage when we could have it in the towns,” she said.

Council Director of Services Sharon Corcoran said she understands the frustration expressed by the elected members. “We have been in contact with An Garda Síochána because the new legislation requires the Gardaí to introduce a code of governance that has to be submitted to the minister and it has to be approved. Now, that hasn't been done yet, so until that happens, local authorities can't move forward with existing or new CCTV schemes.”

Ms Corcoran said the justice department “told us they expect it to be submitted by the end of Q1 2026, so we're taking that to be the end of March.” She added that schemes where the Gardaí are the data controller can move forward “because they have their own regulations governing how they operate these CCTV.”

“But in terms of Cork County Council, in terms of the existing CCTV, which exists in West Cork, and in terms of extending it to the various other towns in the county, we can't move forward with us being the data controller until that code of governance is introduced,” she said.