The Government is committed to the principle that everyone, wherever they live in Ireland, should be able to feel safe. Building safe and secure communities by investing in An Garda Síochána is a top priority for the Government. However, the introduction of local community safety partnerships around the country represents a new and more collaborative approach to community safety. They are an important step towards a more collaborative, responsive and locally driven model of public safety. The safety partnerships bring together a broad range of relevant stakeholders to address community issues in their area, including residents, community representatives, business and education representatives, local councillors and a range of public services, including senior representatives of the HSE, Tusla, An Garda Síochána and local authorities. The Deputy will appreciate this is much broader than the membership of the previous joint policing committees. One of the premises behind this partnership approach is that every community is different, as the Deputy has said. Membership in each safety partnership is configured to give the broadest representation across the relevant State actors and demographic and community interests in the local area in order to achieve the safest outcomes. Each local partnership will be responsible for developing a tailored and prioritised plan specific to that area, in conjunction with the community and the relevant public services. The intention is to build the capacity of local residents and the community to contribute meaningfully to the local community safety partnership and grow local leadership and participation. This structure will ensure that communities have a strong say in what actions are prioritised by the services operating in their area. They will also have a key oversight role in ensuring those actions are followed through.

Sentiment score: 0.51

Budget 2026 provided €8 million for the National Office for Community Safety. That funding will support the functions of the office, which is developing a national strategy for improving community safety. Each safety partnership is supported by a dedicated community safety co-ordinator and an administrator. Both of these permanent positions are funded by the Department of justice and hosted within each local authority. The community safety co-ordinator will support the safety partnership in its work. It will also bring together the diverse group of agencies and residents engaged in the joint planning and co-ordination of the services for each of the communities, including the design and delivery of community safety projects for each of the relevant areas.

Sentiment score: 0.69

As I said, a safety co-ordinator and an administrator have been funded. Equally, many of the main participants on the new safety partnerships are State agencies that are also very adequately funded, such as An Garda Síochána, Tusla, the HSE and local authorities. The whole idea of these partnerships is to bring people together, along with community representatives, to make sure the priorities, needs, demands and asks of the local communities are being prioritised into action plans, particularly by the State agencies. It is about directing and empowering the State agencies to make sure they are responsive to the needs of the local community. As the Deputy knows, the community safety fund has been created from the proceeds of crime, which are assets and money seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau. It is also available to communities across Ireland. Last year, 127 communities were funded from the community safety fund to the tune of €4.4 million.

Sentiment score: 0.28