The mission of the PSA is:
To regulate the activities of those involved in the private security industry to ensure that the interests of consumers are fully protected through the establishment, promotion, monitoring and enforcement of appropriate standards.
The PSA, through its Inspectorate, ensures compliance with licensing regulations by monitoring those who are licensed and by taking action against those in breach of the Private Security Services Acts 2004 and 2011. Licensees are subject to ongoing monitoring through a series of scheduled announced and unannounced inspections. The PSA also investigates complaints or intelligence brought to its attention and depending on the findings can take action up to the suspension and revocation of licenses. Our Inspectorate also checks compliance by clients using security services and investigates reports of unlicensed security services.
In the first 9 months of 2015, the PSA has commenced 551 enforcement cases. 193 of these remained active at the end of the quarter. Cases older than 90 days are kept under constant review. Because of the complexity of some investigations, cases can remain open for considerable periods of time. In addition, 1,440 security employees were interviewed, of which, 98.3% were licensed.
The following table shows the compliance action taken against licensees January to September 2015.
Appointment of Chief Inspector.
The Board of the PSA has appointed Seamus Burke as the new Chief Inspector responsible for the PSA’s inspection and compliance programmes. Seamus has been with the PSA for over 7 years and previously headed the Individual Licensing and Training units. One of Seamus’s first tasks following his appointment was the targeting of inspections in Cork and Limerick.
PSA Inspections in Cork and Limerick.
On the 23 rd September 2015, retail outlets in Cork and Limerick were visited by Inspectors from the PSA to check licensing compliance levels of security persons operating there. Checks involved ensuring that all security guards held valid licences and that ID badges were worn correctly. Also the purpose of the inspections was to ensure that all contractors employing security guards were licensed as appropriate. 142 security guards were checked in 94 outlets. Two breaches of the ID badges were discovered but all individuals and contractors were licensed.
New Panel of External Inspectors Appointed.
The PSA has appointed a new panel of 14 External Inspectors to support the work of our compliance teams. The previous panel expired in September. The External Inspectors are spread across the country and to date have worked mainly in the Electronic Security sectors. So far in 2015, over 2,800 business premises have been visited by External Inspectors to check that businesses are using licensed Electronic Security Installers. The new panel will continue this work and will also check compliance in the Event Security and Private Investigator sectors.