Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for affording me the opportunity to raise this matter and the Minister, Deputy Alan Shatter, for taking it. Delays in the processing of Garda vetting applications are causing great concern in my county of Carlow. It is, of course, very important that we have a thorough vetting process for all candidates seeking to work with children and vulnerable adults. However, the organisations being affected by the processing delays are care organisations which depend on Tús and community employment schemes to make up for the funding they received from the Health Service Executive in the past.

Several months ago, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, made the very welcome announcement that an additional 2,500 positions would be created on community employment schemes. The difficulty, however, is that these schemes are being hindered because staff have not yet been vetted by the Garda. As I said, such vetting is vital in situations in which staff are working with people who are very vulnerable. However, suitable and qualified candidates who have applied for the positions cannot take them up in the absence of Garda clearance. Vetting applications are supposed to take no longer than eight to 12 weeks to process but that does not seem to be happening in practice. I have spoken to an individual who, having submitted her application to the vetting unit on 11 March, has received no communication in regard to it. The person in question is hoping to take up a position in a disability centre in Carlow town, a centre which depends on community employment, FÁS and Tús schemes for its survival. Without that support, it will not be able to keep going.

It is vital that the vetting process is speeded up as much as possible. In response to a query I submitted in this regard earlier in the year, I received a letter from the Garda Commissioner's office on 8 March indicating that 25 staff were to be redeployed from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to the vetting unit in order to alleviate the backlog of applications. The letter further indicated that these staff would undergo training for three months before assuming their roles. Will the Minister indicate what progress has been made in that regard? Is it now standard practice for people to have to wait between 15 and 16 weeks to be vetted in order to take up positions they are offered? These lengthy delays are having a detrimental effect on organisations that look after vulnerable members of our society.

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