Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 326: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the fact that applications for vetting to the Garda vetting office take between 12 and 14 weeks to process; if his further attention has been drawn to the fact that the delay in the vetting process is creating an obstacle to persons unemployed taking up employment and is a cause for concern to schools and voluntary organisations across the country who wish to fill vacant positions; if he recognises that the increase in the number of vetting applications requires the allocation of additional staff to the vetting office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23338/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) provides employment vetting for a large number of organisations in Ireland registered with the Gardaí for this purpose and which employ persons in a full-time, part-time, voluntary or training capacity to positions where they would have substantial, unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults. The GCVU has managed a substantial increase over recent years in the numbers of vetting applications it receives - 187,864 in 2007; 218,404 in 2008 and 246,194 in 2009.

The processing time for vetting applications fluctuates during the year due to seasonal demands when the volume of applications received from certain sectors can increase, for training placements for example. Additional time may be required to process an individual vetting application in cases where clarification is required as to the details provided or where other enquiries need to be made, for example, when the person in question has lived and worked abroad. There will always be a reasonably significant time period required to process a vetting application. However, the Gardaí make every effort to reduce this to the minimum possible consistent with carrying out the necessary checks. I am informed by the Garda Authorities that the average processing time for valid vetting applications received at the GCVU may vary from four to five weeks in periods of lower demand to up to about 12 weeks at times when demand is particularly high.

The allocation of Garda resources, including personnel, is a matter for the Garda Commissioner. An additional five persons were assigned to the Vetting Unit recently, bringing the total to 83 personnel currently assigned to the vetting unit, including six Gardaí and 77 Garda civilian personnel. A further five additional personnel are being recruited on a temporary basis and it is intended that these persons will commence work shortly. This represents a very significant increase in the level of personnel assigned to the unit, which stood at only 13 before the current process of development in Garda vetting began in 2005.