Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The primary purpose of vetting carried out by the Garda National Vetting Bureau is to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults. The Deputy will appreciate the importance of this task and the need for it to be carried out thoroughly. I believe the many organisations centred around the safety, enjoyment and comfort of children and vulnerable people understand that they must take all reasonable steps to ensure that only suitable people are recruited and employed. We all take this responsibility very seriously. This requires a robust Garda vetting process that reassures the public, and parents in particular, that appropriate checks are conducted on people taking on positions of trust.

I am advised by Garda management that, while more complex cases can take some time, there is currently no delay or backlog in the standard vetting process. The turnaround time for the vast majority of applications is between five and six days. The target timeline is between five and ten working days.

I established the Garda vetting review group because, like Deputy Daly, colleagues have come to me with cases of people who have had to be vetted multiple times and I have seen it myself. Some people are working with multiple organisations, including sporting groups in their own communities. Is there a way to speed this up or could we have a different system that makes it easier for clubs to take people on or for people to work in schools and other environments while not diluting the process or the importance of the vetting system in any way? The membership of the group includes members of An Garda Síochána and officials from my Department, Tusla and other relevant stakeholders. I assure the Deputy that the group’s primary focus has been to examine the means of strengthening the vetting legislation in a workable and effective manner. I am informed that the group’s report on arrangements for Garda vetting will be finalised in the coming weeks. I have asked for it to be completed before the summer recess, that is, in the next three weeks. The group has been working on the report for some time and, once I receive it, I expect to respond to any recommendations immediately.

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