Almost 30% of door staff have not applied for a licence
The Private Security Authority (PSA) also revealed that it has secured 11 successful prosecutions in court against unlicensed operators in the security sector, and one successful prosecution against a client who used an unlicensed operator. Of the 11 cases against unlicensed operators, all but two were against security guarding companies, with the remainder carried out against security alarm installers and monitors.
Under the Private Security Services Act 2004, licences for security contractors are mandatory since April of last year, while licences became mandatory for alarm installers and monitors since August 2006.
In the latest phasing-in of legislation, door supervisors — bouncers — and security guards were required to apply for a licence from April of this year.
The PSA has more than 19,000 applications under the latter category and has yet to issue a licence, but inspectors have already uncovered a number of rogue operators in the other listed categories. Using intelligence, inspections and responding to complaints, the PSA has investigated 2,719 cases since April of last year, 772 of which are still “live” cases.
Of the remaining 1,947 cases, the companies involved are no longer operating in 400 cases.
In 192 cases the client terminated the contract of the unlicensed company.
In 392 cases it was found that operators did have, or were in the process of, getting licences even though the complaint had suggested they were operating illegally. Similarly, in another 232 cases it was claimed that people were using unlicensed operators, whereas they were in the process of receiving licences.
Chief inspector with the Private Security Authority (PSA), John O’Dwyer, said that it was satisfied with the rates of compliance with the new legislation, but that “cowboy operators” were still working in the security sector.
“We have done random inspections and we will be increasing that. About 70% of the door staff had lodged applications for a licence,” he said.
He said that another five cases are listed for courts in the coming months, with others in the pipeline.
He added that consumers, and companies wishing to employ security personnel, needed to ensure that those workers were fully licensed or had applied for a licence, particularly those who were having alarms installed on their premises.
www.psa.gov.ie
