Government has been slammed for ‘making a mess’ of rolling out a replacement for Joint Policing Committees (JPCs), with little progress to show almost a year after they were scrapped.

The County and City JPCs served as forums for discussion between councillors, members of the Oireachtas and gardaí prior to their abolition ahead of last June’s Local Election.

And now, the Minister for Justice has ordered that the chairperson of the LCSP must be appointed by the overall committee – despite the County and City Councils advertising and interviewing for the roles last year – and having informed candidates that they were successful in securing the unpaid role.

A meeting of Ballinasloe Municipal District heard that this last-minute change from Government had ‘damaged the credibility’ of local authorities who were tasked with filling the roles.

Director of Services, Kieran Coyne, said it had been indicated that the necessary to proceed with the first meetings of the LCSPs was due to ‘come into play’ on June 3 – almost a year to the date after last year’s election.

“We’ve lost two months because the Government has changed the legislation,” said Mr Coyne.

“We and all the other local authorities appointed a chairperson.

“The Department [of Justice] came back two months ago with changes to the legislation and they have rowed back. They say they want the chairperson appointed from the membership of the LCSP,” he explained.

Those selected to fill the roll of chairperson could now join the LCSP as a ‘Minister’s appointment’ but would have to win the support of the rest of the committee’s membership to take the helm.

Each LCSP is due to have up to 30 members made up of elected representatives, gardaí, representatives of the community and voluntary sector representation, the HSE, the business sector and other State agencies. There will be one for the city and one for the county.

Ballinasloe-based Councillor Evelyn Parsons (Ind) said it appeared that the Government was “making it up as they go along” and the result was that they had “left a vacuum”.

“To disband the JPC before they had anything else in place; to go from having something to having nothing at all is, to me, totally unsatisfactory,” she said.

Cllr Alan Harney (FG) said the failure to get the LCSPs up and running was delaying progress on CCTV to target illegal dumping and anti-social behaviour.

“It’s very disappointing that Galway County Council was sent out to offer the position of chairperson to someone and then had to rescind it. I think that affects the credibility of the local authority and of the LCSP,” said Cllr Harney.

Cllr Declan Geraghty (Ind Irl) said the JPC had been effective in its work and Government should have “left well enough alone”.

Mr Coyne said the JPC had limited powers and it was envisaged that this new body would be better equipped to take a more holistic approach to societal issues beyond just policing.

Cllr Michael Connolly (FF) said he had little faith in the JPC format and hoped the new system might be more effective.

“I served on the JPC for a time and I saw a lot of shortcomings. For that reason, I wouldn’t accept a nomination to go back on it from my own party.

“I hope this new body has more teeth and is more effective,” said Cllr Connolly.

Meanwhile, former Chairperson of the City JPC, Cllr Níall McNelis (Lab), said two staff had already been appointed in City Hall to facilitate the LCSP and it was his understanding that the body would be up and running by the end of June.

“I am told, though, that they are still waiting for the guidelines from the department and they haven’t come yet,” he said.

Pictured: Director of Services, Kieran Coyne