Vertical Markets

Enforcement guards badged in Republic

by Mark Rowe

In the Republic of Ireland, an extra category of private security is to come under the country’s regulator, the Private Security Authority, its equivalent of the UK’s Security Industry Authority.

‘Enforcement guards’ who take part in evictions and repossessions, or seize goods in lieu of debts, will have to obtain a licence to operate from the PSA. The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, said on the publishing of the Bill: “Private security staff occupy a position of trust, engaging in regular interactions with members of the public. I strongly believe that those providing security should operate to the highest standards. I am pleased that with the introduction of these amendments, the Private Security Authority can continue to provide their important role in the private security industry and the contribution it makes to the protection of our community.”

Among amendments to the original law that set up the Authority, the PSA will now be able to refuse to renew a licence, or suspend or revoke a licence of a body corporate for the actions of its members; make the Register of licensed persons available for inspection for free to the public, on its website; and a new offence will be of “impersonating an inspector” of the Authority.

An original, 2004, Act set up the PSA. That means that the PSA was set up at roughly the same time in the mid-2000s as the UK’s SIA, under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. However even before the covid pandemic, the SIA was in vain seeking parliamentary time for a new law to update the law that underpins its workings, which with the passing of time – before such things were around as surveillance drones, and apps for recruiting stewards and door staff and security officers generally in the ‘gig economy’ – has become in need of an update.

While much of the work of the PSA and the SIA is similar, the PSA was already regulating more sectors than the SIA; such as locksmiths (never really in the running to be licenced in the UK) and private investigators (which are named in the 2001 Act, and which Theresa May as Home Secretary said would be badged by the SIA, in 2013, in the wake of the News of the World phone hacking scandal; it never happened).

The Tipperary Town-based PSA has a new web address; https://www.psa-gov.ie/.

The Department of Justice in the Republic meanwhile has also published a Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill, proposing that non-police government departments should also take responsibility for public protection. McEntee said: “This landmark Bill reflects how our new approach to policing and community safety will help to achieve that goal. It will allow for increased visibility of An Garda Síochána {Irish police] in our communities and will prevent crime and harm.”

Picture by Mark Rowe; street art, Dublin, 2017.

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