Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also wish to thank the OPLA for its work on this Bill. I am very glad to be co-proposing it with na Teachtaí Pa Daly agus Paul Donnelly and that we have this opportunity to address it further at this stage before the Dáil rises for the summer recess.

The purpose of our Bill is to keep the practice of vetting as effective and as safe as possible and to make the process as efficient as possible, both for community and the gardaí, and through them, wider society. With something as important as vetting, it is extremely important that it is not only thorough but also timely. We all have constituents who at one time or another have contacted us about delays and complications in the vetting process that are holding up either their employment or their ability to volunteer. I have had people contact me who have been delayed in a job and in trying to volunteer. Sometimes there might be an option to volunteer somewhere for a couple of months and it can take a couple of months to get the vetting done. As the Minister of State mentioned, we have a great ethos of volunteering in Ireland and people are anxious to do their bit for their communities. Given that, it is vital that all those who are working and those they are working with are safe and protected. It is also vital that people who are volunteering are facilitated in that process of vetting. I saw it myself in my volunteer group. I have been vetted twice. Once was when I was working with vulnerable adults and another time was when I was starting up the Maynooth community first responders, which I co-founded with other volunteers in my hometown of Maynooth. There is the energy that goes into that and there is the ethos we have of volunteering where people give up their time. I remember filling out the forms, which I had to do twice, and worrying about the addresses. After I had filled out the form the first time, I realised I had actually lived in Mynagh for the first year while my parents were waiting for their house. I was said to myself that the form would be different. You are terrified when sending something to the State and the Garda and that it must be correct. It is important because this is time-consuming for people who are vetted multiple times for the various roles.

You have to list every single address you lived at. I lived abroad for a few years and had to make sure I got those addresses right. I lived up in Drogheda, County Louth, where I worked when I was 19, and I had to try to remember the address I lived at there. It is burdensome and costly as well for the Garda to have to go through the process of checking out all your addresses.

The Bill proposes to establish a register of general consents whereby a person can apply to be added to that list, instead of having to apply multiple times. It would help keep the system at the security level necessary to protect all of society and make the process easier. Regarding the various issues the Minister of State raised in her address, that is why we do not just scribble down our thoughts on a piece a paper and bring it in here as a Bill. We go through all the various Stages. Those issues can be worked out in pre-legislative scrutiny or on Committee Stage.

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