COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN, NEWCASTLE, RATHCOOLE, SAGGART AND BRITTAS AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

MOTION NO. 11

MOTION: Councillor T. Gilligan

That this Area Committee requests the Chief Executive to examine the feasibility for installing and managing CCTV along the Grand Canal Greenway in the Clondalkin LEA, and to report back to this Committee.

REPORT:

The Canal Greenway is located on the Grand Canal towpath, which is owned and managed by Waterways Ireland, and while SDCC operates the greenway under licence, the Council does not own the land and therefore cannot install CCTV without the landowner’s explicit consent, agreed governance arrangements and the necessary planning permission. In addition, public-space CCTV is subject to strict data-protection requirements, including a mandatory Data Protection Impact Assessment, demonstration of necessity and proportionality, and adherence to the national CCTV Code of Practice. The presence of people living along this stretch of the canal further heightens privacy expectations and increases the legal threshold for any surveillance measure. For these reasons, CCTV on this section of the greenway would require a robust justification, detailed compliance assessment and agreement with Waterways Ireland before it could be considered. An initial assessment will be completed and the matter raised with Waterways Ireland.