Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for bringing this matter to the attention of the Dáil. I apologise for the absence of the Minister for Justice and Equality who is on official business elsewhere.

The Deputy and the House will be aware of the importance of delivering a vetting service that protects the most vulnerable in our society. Significant additional resources have been provided for the Garda Commissioner in the past 12 months to decrease processing times in the Garda central vetting unit and ensure the best possible level of service is provided for organisations across the country which avail of the services of the unit. The current processing time for vetting applications is approximately seven weeks from the date of receipt of the application in the vetting unit.

There are currently 136 whole-time equivalent civilian staff assigned to the vetting unit and upwards of 40 additional staff are to take up duty later this month on transfer from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This will bring the total number of staff to almost 180 compared to 93 last December. It is expected that when these staff are fully trained in early 2014, there will be a further reduction in processing times. This is a very good example of the value of redeployment within the public service and the contribution it can make to the more effective use of resources.

These additional resources were obtained in recent months from within the justice sector, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and other public service organisations such as the Shannon Free Airport Development Corporation. Discussions were held with these organisations and the local authority in question to identify surplus staff who could be redeployed to the vetting unit. The outcome of these discussions was an increase of over 90% in the resources available to the vetting unit.

It is my understanding that the discussions with the local authority were not completed by the time the latest staff became available from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and, therefore, it is not the case that an agreement was in place which was cancelled. As the local authority staff were potentially transferring with different terms and conditions from those that apply in the Civil Service, these discussions were inherently more complex and protracted than those involving the direct transfer of Civil Service staff.

The Garda central vetting unit has sufficient resources available to it to provide an efficient and effective vetting service. In the event that additional or replacement resources are required in the future, the potential for the transfer of staff from the local authority can be further explored. Such a transfer would be dependent on the availability of the necessary sanctions and finance.

An e-vetting system is currently being developed and it is expected that this will come on stream in 2014 following the initial phase of testing, which will take place later this year. When this is achieved, the system will streamline the overall vetting process in this jurisdiction and further contribute to reductions in processing times for all vetting applications. The vetting unit provides employment vetting for approximately 20,000 organisations in Ireland. They are registered with the unit for this purpose, which employs personnel to work in a full-time, part-time, voluntary or student capacity with children or vulnerable adults. Garda vetting is conducted only on behalf of registered organisations and is not conducted for individuals on a personal basis. When an organisation is registered with the unit, it is entitled to receive Garda vetting services in respect of its employees. In addition, there has been a steady increase in the number of applications for vetting. The unit processed 328,000 applications in 2012 and it is expected that this will increase to 350,000 in 2013.

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