Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I hope it will be possible to provide, under the new internship scheme, some internship experience for persons currently unemployed. I had a conversation with the Garda Commissioner when the new JobBridge scheme was announced and it is my understanding the Garda has taken the initial steps necessary to recruit interns to the vetting unit. Working at the unit will give them important job experience while contributing to a reduction in waiting times for vetting.

I do not regard ten weeks as an appropriate time for the completion of vetting applications. I have talked to the Commissioner about this and believe it is a necessary objective to get the timeframe down to an average of about four weeks, save where there are unusual circumstances - for example, in cases in which information must be sought from abroad. When we entered government, the waiting time was 14 weeks. This has been reduced to ten weeks and I hope further progress will be made as we continue through this year and into next year.

See this speech in context