Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I would like to start off by paying tribute to the gardaí and civilians working in the Central Garda Vetting Unit. They do a very important job and they do it extremely well. The problem we have at the moment, though, is that essentially they are overwhelmed. As a consequence of all the allegations of child abuse in recent years and the publicity rightly given to that area, far more bodies and groups are seeking the use of the vetting services. The service is in place essentially to ensure a person who is in employment that involves day-to-day dealings with children is vetted. Not only does this facility cover child care staff, social workers and teachers in schools, it also covers those working with children in a voluntary capacity, for example, in sports clubs. It is now possible for swimming, soccer and Gaelic games coaches, for example, to be vetted by the Garda vetting unit. There has been a substantial increase in the number of clubs and organisations using the service and in the number of people in respect of whom vetting is sought. A total of 187,864 vetting applications were made in 2007, but that figure had increased to 246,194 by 2009.

A number of people have contacted me to raise this issue. Some of them were in a position to start jobs working with children but found that many weeks were passing while they waited for vetting procedures to be adopted. I have spoken to people who are seeking to effect adoptions but are having to wait while the HSE works through the vetting process. People who have offered to do voluntary work in sports clubs have found weeks passing into months without vetting being conducted. It is quite extraordinary that, as I learned in response to a parliamentary question yesterday, as of this week there are 60,000 applicants whose vetting has not yet been completed. It is deplorable. We must provide a service that has the capacity to vet individuals within four weeks of vetting being sought. I accept there will be exceptions in this regard. If proper vetting is to be carried out on certain individuals, information may have to be sought from abroad. In such circumstances, it may not be possible to meet the four-week timeframe. Generally speaking, however, such a timeframe should be met in the cases of individuals who have spent their working lives in Ireland and are seeking full-time employment or offering to do voluntary work here. The blockage that exists means people are remaining unemployed for longer than they need to. As a result, the State is paying social welfare it does not need to pay and jobs that could be properly filled are not being filled. There is a need to appreciate that the vetting unit has a positive impact and should be able to do its important job within a reasonable period.

I understand that ten additional temporary staff have been recruited to the Garda vetting unit in recent weeks. That has happened because an enormous number of people are waiting for their vetting applications to be addressed. At no stage should the backlog of applicants have been allowed to reach 60,000. It is an extraordinary number. We have been informed that the average waiting time is 12 weeks, but that is simply not good enough. I am aware that 380 vetting applications from the HSE were awaiting Garda clearance on 30 August last. A number of them had been awaited for five months, since early 2010. Some of those who are seeking vetting clearance to obtain employment in the HSE are the social workers who are needed in our dysfunctional child care services. Such dysfunction is persisting not because of any fault of the staff of the vetting unit but because of the Government's failure to allow the Garda to recruit additional people in this area.

It is important that I conclude by mentioning that a number of individuals whose assessments for inter-country adoptions have been completed - the HSE is waiting to furnish the assessment reports to the Adoption Board - are waiting for vetting clearance. In many such cases, it is important that reports are sent to the board so it can make a declaration of suitability before 1 November next, when the Adoption Act 2010 will be commenced. If these people do not get a declaration of suitability before that date, they might not be able to adopt in foreign countries where they have been involved in planning adoptions over the past three to four years. It is of the utmost importance that vetting applications are dealt with, in general, within three to four weeks. It is of particular importance for priority to be given over the next week or so to the cohort of individuals whose vetting the HSE is seeking to have completed for the purposes of overseas adoption. If that does not happen, it will be impossible for the Adoption Board to deal with all the applications for declarations of suitability that will be required.

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