Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to co-sign this Bill with Deputies Daly and Cronin. I was a child welfare officer in my local GAA club, St. Peregrines, and I know the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, was a child welfare officer in his club, St. Brigid's, in the same constituency. I am sure he understands the predicament and how difficult it is.

I fully support and agree with the Garda vetting process but it can be overly bureaucratic, cumbersome and difficult for people to remember. I have often had people come back to me trying to figure out where they stayed when they were students. It can be difficult to go through the process over and over. At one stage I was vetted as an employee of Tusla. I was vetted as a mentor. I was then vetted because we had children staying over for a féile and, finally, as somebody who worked with Youthreach through the ETB. It is the same process over and over. It is a vital tool to protect our children and young people. Nobody argues with that but this Bill supports and protects young people and will help communities, voluntary groups and other organisations to get volunteers on board and retain them. That is what we want to see. I look forward to the Bill coming into effect.

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