Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I speak on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on this important topic of vetting in the pre-school sector. I trust the House will allow me to address some of the apparently erroneous assumptions made in the matter raised on the Adjournment.

It is the case that the coming into operation of the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations 2006 has been deferred from 2 January, 2007 to 3 September, 2007. These regulations provide, inter alia, that a person carrying on a pre-school service shall ensure appropriate vetting of all staff, students and volunteers who have access to a child by acquiring Garda vetting. However, it is not correct to state that this deferment is the result of insufficient human resources or processing capacities within the Garda central vetting unit.

To facilitate the roll-out of Garda vetting to an increasing number of sectors from the first quarter of this year, staffing of the Garda central vetting unit has been more than doubled. Thanks to these additional resources, the Garda central vetting unit has the capacity to expand its vetting service to the pre-school sector on a phased basis during 2007. The reason for the deferment of the coming into operation of the 2006 regulations relates to the organisation of the pre-school sector itself rather than anything to do with the Garda central vetting unit. For each sector requiring vetting, whether it be the education sector, the health sector or whatever, the Garda central vetting unit provides its vetting service via a sectoral central point of contact, the task of which is to process vetting applications centrally for that sector.

This arrangement is not simply an administrative convenience, rather it is an important element in the professionalisation of the vetting process by which vetting application forms can be properly and attentively processed and the criminal record disclosure process properly managed. In this regard, there is a huge onus on each sector to ensure the proper checking of applicants' identities and that the information supplied on vetting application forms is accurate and honest. If these steps are not performed diligently, then the benefits of vetting are set at nought. To facilitate best practice in this regard, the Garda central vetting unit delivers comprehensive training to the sectoral central points of contact as an important means of promoting vetting as an aid to child protection, but only when properly managed.

The sectoral central point of contact system is in place for all the sectors to which vetting has already been extended, including the primary and post-primary education sectors, the youth work sector, the care home sector and so on. This approach has proven its worth from both the perspective of the Garda central vetting unit and the sectors themselves, not least in terms of eliminating duplication and preventing waste in the processing of incorrectly completed vetting application forms.

The Office of the Minister for Children, which has responsibility for the pre-school sector, is represented on the multi-agency implementation group overseeing the roll-out of Garda vetting nationally. That office is aware of and in agreement with the principle of a sectoral central point of contact. To that end, the Office of the Minister for Children remains engaged in the process of identifying and developing such a point of contact for the pre-school sector.

In this regard, the Tánaiste understands that discussions are ongoing with the Health Service Executive and a number of umbrella bodies for the sector. Unfortunately, this process of administrative development has taken longer than originally intended, but the Tánaiste understands that the Office of the Minister for Children is determined to ensure appropriate processing systems are in place as soon as possible. In any event, on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I state unambiguously that Garda vetting will be extended to the pre-school sector as soon as appropriate liaison mechanisms for the sector are put in place, including the identification of a sectoral central point of contact to manage vetting applications and disclosures thereon.

On the question of staffing, the human resource requirements of the Garda central vetting unit are monitored on an ongoing basis to ensure a match between vetting demand and processing capacities. The additional human and other resources already provided to the unit have been more than adequate to meet demand to date, and the Garda authorities have not made any further additional staffing requests to the Tánaiste. However, I assure the Senator that should additional staffing requirements arise, the Tánaiste has indicated his willingness to consider any such application in a favourable light.