Funding available to bring CCTV to rural villages
A NEW grant aid-scheme could see ‘Big Brother’ watching over more rural areas under a community based CCTV system.
With this new scheme, eligible community groups can apply for grant-aid of up to 60% of the total capital cost of a proposed CCTV system – up to a maximum of €40,000. Upon approval of the grant, the applicant will receive an up-front payment of 50% of the grant with the balance to be paid when the system is fully operational.
Cllr Gerard Murphy (FG) welcomed this move and said as technology is always changing, it is very important to “keep up with the times.”
Separately, his hometown of Newmarket has five cameras which are connected to the Garda station and the cameras have ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) technology.
In nearby Kanturk, CCTV cameras were also recently upgraded.
He said it was vital that communities felt safe and he pointed out that some of the key objectives of this scheme is to enhance existing policing within the community and to assist in the prevention and reduction of local crime, disorder and anti-social activity.
He also pointed out that having CCTV cameras also lends itself to an increase of community involvement in the provision of legitimate, integrated responses to prevent and reduce crime in local areas.
It is intended that this scheme will run for three years with funding of €1 million being made available each year.
However, it must be noted that this grant does not cover the running costs of a CCTV system. The grant pertains to capital expenditure only. All running costs will be the sole responsibility of the applicant - running costs or costs incurred for leasing arrangements are not eligible for funding.
The capital cost of the system refers to expenditure incurred on necessary one-off costs in the installation of a CCTV system - these costs include items such as the purchase of cameras, monitors and related equipment, cabling, ducting, and fitting out a monitoring station.
The scheme aims to build on the previous Department-funded, community-based CCTV scheme which was launched in 2005 and funded the establishment of some 45 cCommunity CCTV systems.
Applications under the scheme can be made to the Department of Justice and Equality and the application forms and explanatory material are available for download on the website of the Department at www.justice.ie.