Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I accept there is an issue in respect of how to deal with the cohort of existing teachers in the system. As I stated in my first reply, to which the Deputy obviously did not listen, in respect of consultation with the various stakeholders on the implementation group on Garda vetting, consultations are taking place with the relevant educational stakeholders as to how to best introduce the vetting of existing teachers. This will be done in such a way that it will not lead to a completely unmanageable situation whereby a massive backlog would be created. It will be done on a phased basis. I again revert to the figures, which demonstrate that within just three years, the figures have risen from 137,000 applications dealt with to 246,000 such applications.

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