Neale Richmond (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join the Cathaoirleach in welcoming the Minister of State to the House for this first appearance. I also congratulate to him on his appointment.

I thank him for coming to the House to discuss what is becoming an increasingly frustrating issue for many voluntary schools, groups and commercial entities. This frustration is accentuated as this is a busy time of year for those who work with children with the school holidays generating increased activity. Vetting is a cornerstone of any child welfare strategy and is essential to best practice when recruiting people who work with children or vulnerable persons. The protection and safeguarding of our nation's children is rightly at the forefront of the vetting process. However, the current delays are having a major impact on those on whom we rely to safely work with children. It is almost two months since the new e-vetting system went live with much fanfare but the feedback my office has received from child care facilities, kids' sports camps, schools and clubs, unfortunately, is that inordinate delays remain.

The previous statistic that turnaround only took four weeks was grossly misleading and I wonder if the new target time of just five working days is another red herring. Under the previous system, while it may have taken less than four weeks for gardaí to log and enter the vetting application, delays of up to three months were still being encountered at the formal vetting stage undertaken by an outside body. One constituent who contacted me explained that in ten years of working with children, the quickest he had ever had an application completed was ten weeks.

While the delays, both previous and current, were bad enough, these were further compounded by the wall of silence and bureaucracy the applicants and service providers have been met with when trying to establish the status of their applications, with indefinite periods of delay constantly chipping away at the viability of their operations. This lengthy timeframe is simply unsustainable, especially for commercial entities working in this sector, many of which rely on part-time or seasonal staff.For these companies, replacing staff is an absolute nightmare, as they know that after hiring someone it can be months before he or she can actually start working. This, in turn, costs contracts, leads to disappointment and completely undermines the sector. The delays stop companies from getting off the ground, prevent people from starting work and limit the options open to parents and others in terms of the services available to children.

Will the Minister of State provide a comprehensive report on how the new vetting system is working? What are realistic and the actual waiting times? Have the delays really been eradicated? I am not convinced that they have and want to know what is causing them. Is it the due diligence process and, if so, can it be improved? Is it the number of applications which previously stood at 30,000 a month and, if so, can more resources be allocated? Is it seasonal changes to the volume of applications and, if so, can they be addressed in the months in which additional resources are needed? As in the case of the passport system, is there scope to introduce a fast-track system for companies or voluntary bodies which, for a fee, are able to have an application fully processed within ten working days in response to exceptional need?