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AFTER almost a decade of fundraising and surveys to provide camera systems to assist Gardaí police the streets of Tipperary, the communities which led the campaign have become disillusioned due to the lengthy wait for progress.
Frustration is "at boiling point" in Roscrea and Borrisokane, the Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council told their monthly meeting in Clonmel on Friday, where communities feel let down after repeatedly overcoming hurdles to advance the installation of camera systems.
After overcoming complex data protection issues and local communities generating the required funding for the required detailed surveys about what type of camera systems should be installed where, it appears who will fund their installation and most importantly, their ongoing maintenance and upgrade, has become the final stumbling block.
Local authority Chairman, Ger Darcy, said that frustration is palpable across the county, where climbing crime rates and over-stretched Garda resources are causing great distress for rural communities in particular.
At the monthly meeting last week, Cllr. Sean MacCriosain said that what is required now is "a leap of faith" and advised communities to "stop pussyfootting around the issue" and install camera systems. However, this advice was directly opposed by Tipperary County Council CEO, Joe MacGrath, who stressed that the "day of putting up a few cameras and away you go is well and truly gone".
The issue stretches across the Municipal District for the Roscrea and Thurles areas, where recurring obstacles have hindered the project in Roscrea, while Thurles' cameras are redundant and not in use anymore.
Cllr. Jim Ryan told the meeting the business community and local Gardaí are frustrated by the situation, while shop-lifting "is rampant" in the town and often perpetrated by people who travel to Thurles by train with the sole intent of stealing from local shops, he said.
"We've listened to excuse after excuse about these cameras - we need to know what needs to be done today", Cllr. Ryan said, while Cllr. David Dunne added that the camera systems must be of high quality "with a good picture" and that there is no loophole in policy that negates their purpose and makes any evidence they might capture not admissible in court.
The task of identifying how the projects can proceed and how they will be funded falls to Brian Beck, Tipperary County Council's Director of Services for Economic, Community and Rural Development, Library/Cultural Services and Corporate Services.
Mr. Beck addressed the issue and said the policy backing up the cameras must be right and referenced an occurrence in neighbouring County Limerick where a Judge imposed a fine of several thousand euro on the local authority because the footage was not recorded legally by public cameras.
Mr. Beck said it requires an operable funding model that elected members agree on and that currently that funding source is not identified. "The question is, where is that money going to come from and we need to have the policy in place first".
This was echoed by CEO, Joe MacGrath who said the local authority will be faced with an annual bill of approximately €100,000 to maintain the cameras.
"There is no point putting policy in place until we are able to back it up financially. I understand the frustration, but people need to understand this is a very complex process with numerous restrictions and questions about who is going to pay for it", the CEO of Tipperary County Council said.
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