Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)
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This matter relates to the Garda vetting application form. This is a procedure applied by the Garda Síochána in respect of a number of applications for FÁS programmes or from individuals who are involved in sports or youth clubs or charities. It is a form which is provided to individuals who must complete it and bring it to the Garda station where it is completed and stamped by a garda. The provisions of the Children Act 2001 provide in section 258 that where an offence is committed by a person who is under 18 years of age and where that person has a clean record following a three-year period, he or she shall be treated for all purposes in law as a person who has not committed or been charged with or prosecuted or found guilty of or dealt with for that offence. It also provides that information which may be required in any circumstances relating to that person's previous findings of guilt, offences, conduct or circumstances does not have to be revealed.

A young person who may have been in trouble with the law previously is applying for a FÁS course, for example. These are operated by many organisations and the one closest to home in my case is Monkstown community centre. Young individuals who get into trouble with the law but are moving on and are being assisted by the State institutions and community groups in that regard are presented with this form. They dutifully fill it out and record their offences if they exist, not knowing that section 258 of the Children Act 2001 does not require them to do so. This can lead to problems.

With regard to the Garda vetting form, the provisions of section 258 are identified in the form that where a person commits an offence while a child, that information does not have to be disclosed. This is the essence of the matter I have raised. It is an important point. The mere act of being asked to fill out this form without informing the applicant of his or her rights under section 258 is an infringement in itself. It is important that the form discloses the provisions of section 258 and that it is not necessary to provide that information. A young person filling out such a form - they are required to do so by the Garda - would not know that he or she did not have to disclose that information. It is to assist young people who may have got in trouble with the law in the past but are trying to improve their lives that this would be reflected in that procedure and the Garda vetting application form.

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I thank Senator Regan for raising this matter. I assure the Senator that the provisions of section 258 of the Children Act 2001 are taken fully into account by the Garda authorities in the vetting process as a matter of routine.

Section 258 of the Children Act 2001 provides for the non-disclosure of certain findings of guilt in respect of a person if the offence in question was committed before the person attained the age of 18 years; the offence is not one required to be tried by the Central Criminal Court; a period of not less than three years has elapsed since the finding of guilt; and the person has not been dealt with for an offence in that three year period. Where all these conditions apply, a person shall be treated for all purposes in law as a person who has not committed or been charged with or prosecuted for or found guilty of or dealt with for that offence. This includes where, as part of the criminal history vetting process prior to working with children and vulnerable adults, the person is requested to provide details of his or her criminal record on a vetting application form to be processed by the Garda central vetting unit, GCVU, as well as to any subsequent disclosure by the GCVU.

The GCVU works very closely with a large number of organisations which are registered for the purposes of providing criminal history vetting related to employment. As part of the engagement with the registered organisations, the GCVU provides targeted training and ongoing information and support to the organisations concerned on the wide range of matters related to the vetting process. This training specifically covers the provisions of section 258 of the Children Act 2001 and includes disregarding any information that might be provided to which section 258 applies. This allows the authorised signatory for each organisation to deal with each individual applicant in an informed way on these important vetting issues.

It should be recalled that the primary onus in terms of the employment of any individual person rests with the employer who must take into account the range of factors relevant to an applicant, including any information that may be provided in the vetting process.

Criminal history vetting, as I have indicated, is carried out by the GCVU for registered organisations in respect of persons who may be employed or engaged in circumstances where they would have substantial unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults. This targeted vetting service has been successfully expanded on a phased basis in recent years to the point where the 78 staff members of the vetting unit processed in excess of 218,000 vetting applications last year and the turn-around time for processing has been reduced to an average of four to five weeks. This is a remarkable achievement and the gardaí are to be commended on it.

The Garda authorities, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and in consultation with many other stakeholders through the implementation group on Garda vetting, keep vetting processes and procedures under constant review to ensure that best practice is applied. The implementation group also allows for important interaction with the registered organisations in ensuring that the vetting process meets their needs as well as enhancing the safety of children and vulnerable adults.

This review process includes the content of the Garda vetting form which is being updated and redesigned. That process has taken fully into account the Children Act provisions which have been referred to and this will be reflected explicitly in the final version of the form. It will also seek to include any elements that may be necessary arising from the vetting legislation currently being prepared by the Department of Health and Children.

I thank the Senator for raising this point about the form. If he has encountered detail in regard to this I suggest he communicate directly with the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, to ensure that if there is a glitch or an inadvertent problem in the area it can be resolved.

Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the Minister's response. I appreciate also that it is the responsibility of employers to ensure that whatever vetting is done the individual meets the requirements, but the reality - this is my net point - is that the form is open in terms of what one must put down as to one's history, whether any offences were committed etc. It is important in the case of young people that if the offence was committed prior to 18 years of age, and there has been no other history of that nature, it should be expressly stated on the form that it is not necessary to include that. That would reflect the provisions of section 258.

My raising this matter on the Adjournment in no way takes from the importance of this exercise. The Minister highlighted the number of vetting applications, which is a chore for the Garda Síochána. I do not want to take away from that in any sense but I believe it would aid the Garda Síochána and any employer were section 258 of the Children Act to be expressly referred to in the application form, stating that if the offence was committed when the person was a junior, it does not have to be disclosed on the form. That is the net point I want to make. I appreciate the Minister's comprehensive response.

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for that. It is important he makes that specific point directly to the Minister. I will convey directly to the Minister that some reference be included on the form to acknowledge that. I appreciate the point the Senator is making in that regard.

Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)
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I will follow up on that.