David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am here representing the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality today. I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it provides an opportunity for me to inform the House that there is currently no particular or undue delay in the Garda employment vetting process. There has been a very significant improvement in the timeframe for processing vetting applications over recent months.

The Garda authorities, which operate the National Vetting Bureau, inform the Tánaiste that, at present, in the order of 80% of vetting applications are processed by the vetting bureau within five working days. The current processing times represent a dramatic improvement in turnaround times, which have fallen from an average of 14 weeks in mid-2013. This improvement has come about as a result of unprecedented investment by the Government and the Garda authorities in providing this service, including an increase of more than 80% in staffing levels in the past couple of years and the roll-out earlier this year of an e-vetting system.In April this year, the Tánaiste commenced the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016, and in tandem with that An Garda Síochána launched the e-vetting system.

E-vetting facilitates the on-line processing of application and this has significantly streamlined the process and contributed to a sustained reduction in processing times for applications. A key feature of the e-vetting system is that the individual applicant can track the progress of his or her vetting application on-line and can, therefore, see when his or her application has been processed and returned to the relevant registered organisation.

The Tánaiste has been informed that at present 85% of organisations registered for vetting are operating the e-vetting system. The Garda authorities are working to encourage all other organisations to do so. The Senator may be able to help in that regard by letting people know about that. For vetting applications that continue to be submitted in the old paper format, the average turnaround time is around four weeks from the receipt of the application by the vetting bureau and this represents a minimum timeframe given the administrative input required. The Senator is correct about the paperwork involved. The e-vetting system is a lot faster.

In some individual cases, it can take longer to process an application where, for example, additional inquiries are necessary or where errors have been made in the application. It is important to note that delays can also occur in other aspects of the application process which are outside of the control of the Garda authorities, for example, in the submission or return of applications by the registered organisations.

In summary, the overwhelming majority of vetting applications are processed within five working days and that is not at all unreasonable in the circumstances. Delays can arise, mainly in aspects of the process that are outside of the control of the Garda vetting bureau.

I also heard what the Senator had to say with respect to certificates. A joint committee examined this issue a number of years ago and the advice was that was not advisable given the serious nature of what is involved, namely, children and vulnerable adults. The system is working pretty well. I again thank the Senator for raising this important matter. It is to be hoped that the new system will meet the concerns he has raised.