Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, I thank Senator McFadden for raising this issue in the House. Unfortunately, she cannot be present and I am here in her place.

As the House will appreciate, the primary purpose of Garda vetting is to seek to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults. Every effort is made to make the system as efficient as possible but that cannot be at the expense of the core objective. In accordance with the provisions of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016, vetting is conducted by the Garda National Vetting Bureau in respect of a range of employments and services where persons would have substantial and unsupervised access to children and vulnerable adults. It is necessary for the Garda National Vetting Bureau to conduct full vetting checks for each new vetting application received to ensure that the most recent data available is taken into account. This is because once there has been any significant lapse of time between one employment and another, the original Garda vetting disclosure must be reviewed to take account of any changes in information, such as more recent criminal convictions. Furthermore, under the Data Protection Acts, any sensitive personal data which employers use in regard to their employees must be current, accurate and up to date.

I am pleased to inform the Senator that the vast majority of vetting applications are now submitted and processed via the eVetting system and that 80% of the applications are now being processed by the Garda National Vetting Bureau in five working days. In circumstances where there is such a sustained reduction in processing times, the problems presented in individual cases of re-vetting or vetting transferability are very significantly reduced. This sustained improvement in processing times has come about primarily as a result of significant investment by the Government in the Garda National Vetting Bureau and, in particular, following the launch in April this year of the new eVetting system.All organisations are encouraged to avail of this service and indeed 85% of organisations registered for vetting are already using it. Some individual cases will of their nature take longer than the average to complete when, for example, more extensive inquiries are required. However, these cases are in the minority. It is important to note also that the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016 provide for a degree of flexibility which may lessen the administrative burden in respect of vetting for the management of organisations that work with children and vulnerable adults.

Section 12 of the Acts makes provision for certain limited circumstances where organisations can share a single vetting disclosure in respect of an individual application where there is agreement with the vetting applicant. This is a particularly important flexibility in respect of persons working, for example, in the health or education sectors as locums or substitute teachers. Section 12 of the Acts also makes specific provision in respect of persons who may be employed on a recurring but non-continuous basis. This could comprise persons who might provide services in a school or a number of schools on a regular basis. The vetting obligations in respect of these persons shall be regarded as satisfied where the registered organisation received a vetting disclosure in respect of the individual for the initial engagement.