Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 175: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the categories of workers within the educational system that are vetted by the Garda with regard to the risk of child abuse; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32807/05]

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 195: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when teachers and other school staff will be subject to vetting procedures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32711/05]

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 197: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her views on whether all school board of management members should be subject to vetting before appointment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32710/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 175, 195 and 197 together.

Ensuring the protection, health and welfare of children is a key concern for the Government, for parents, for agencies that work with children and for society generally and I assure the Deputy that the Government is determined to do all it can to keep our children and vulnerable adults safe.

In the education sector, vetting is available in respect of prospective employees of children in detention schools as well as special needs assistants and bus escorts to children with special needs. My colleague, Deputy Brian Lenihan, Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science with special responsibility for children, announced a doubling of the number of staff employed in the unit to ensure that they can handle a greater volume of requests from employers. The unit will commence the augmentation of its existing vetting arrangements upon decentralisation targeted for mid-November this year. The provision of additional staff resources will enable the Garda Síochána's vetting services to be extended to all persons working with children and vulnerable adults. This will include teachers, caretakers, bus drivers and others working with children.

The issue of vetting members of boards of management raises the wider issue of vetting people who volunteer in the education sector. My view is that the determining factor in deciding whether or not such persons should be vetted is the extent to which they have unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults. In consultation with the education partners, I intend to examine this issue closely as the Garda vetting service expands.