An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-21 ============================================================ Linda Nelson Murray (FG), Industrial and Commercial Panel I raise the town of Navan and CCTV cameras. The people of Navan deserve to feel safe while walking around the town, but many do not. In my day, I could go to the disco, come out of it at about 2 a.m., and be able to walk home and feel safe. Many people cannot do that these days. We have raised the issue of needing more gardaí in the town and county. Meath has the lowest number of gardaí per capita in the country. We have also been raising the issue of CCTV cameras. Fine Gael councillors, including myself when I was a councillor, and every councillor from every other party are in agreement that more CCTV cameras are desperately needed in Navan. This conversation has been going on for years. I am delighted to say that, at the Navan municipal district meeting tomorrow, there will be a briefing on where all of these cameras will go on the map. There are more than 100 of them. Although it has taken many years for this extension, I welcome the significant development that the CCTV cameras across the town of Navan will bring. CCTV in a town like Navan is not just about watching streets. It is about making the town feel safer and more confident and attractive for people to live, work and visit. Visible CCTV cameras can make opportunistic crime far less likely. Things like vandalism, theft and anti-social behaviour are reduced, and when crime does happen, the CCTV provides clear, time-stamped evidence that can be used by An Garda Síochána. With footage, investigations move faster and prosecutions are stronger. Towns like Navan face challenges around late night disorder, loitering and intimidation, and CCTV can help identify repeat offenders. CCTV is a welcome thing, especially for the retail and hospitality industries. People's perception of safety matters as much as actual crime rates. If residents feel unsafe, they avoid certain areas, especially in the evening. Navan is a beautiful town, with many lanes going through it, but people feel very unsafe going through those lanes in particular. CCTV will be a great addition to Navan, but only if we have gardaí there to be able to follow up on the reporting from the CCTV. It is all very welcome having the cameras, but we need the follow-up. I would like assurances from the Minister for justice that the CCTV system in Navan will have backup from An Garda Síochána. For now, I very much welcome it. I empathise with Senator Flynn completely. She should never have had to face the barrage of comments she did. It is absolutely disgusting. All of her colleagues are around her. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-21/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:50+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-21