The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Data protection issue delays Killarney CCTV plan
THERE will be no CCTV in Killarney until an issue is sorted out with the Data Protection Commissioner regarding access to the information recorded on CCTV.
The Government has announced that funding will be available for CCTV schemes across the country and it is hoped to roll out three schemes in Kerry – including one in Killarney.
The funding was to come from the Department of Justice but it has now emerged that all schemes across the country have been halted following a complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner. The complaint, by a group in county Meath, centres on concerns about the day-to-day operators of CCTV systems and the controls placed on them.
A decision on this complaint is due in the third quarter of this year and the Government has informed local authorities to halt all CCTV schemes until this decision.
The introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation also raises issues for CCTV schemes and the implications of this will also have to be examined.
Chairman of the Joint Policing Committee, Niall Kelleher, asked that a letter be sent from the committee to the Data Protection Commissioner about the importance of community CCTV.
The Killarney scheme was to be put in place in the town centre and outlying areas, including Ballyspillane.