Written answers

Tuesday, 28 March 2006

Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform

Child Care Services

11:00 pm

Photo of Seán ArdaghSeán Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 372: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his response to the question of vetting child care workers as set out in the Dublin 10 child care network (details supplied). [11669/06]

Photo of Michael McDowellMichael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Garda central vetting unit, GCVU, was established in 2002 and currently processes vetting requests in respect of, inter alia, prospective full-time employees of the Health Service Executive and certain agencies funded by the Health Service Executive as well as in respect of selected employments in other sectors.

In 2004, an inter-agency working group on Garda vetting reported with a clear and focused strategy for enhancing national vetting arrangements. The strategy provides for an expansion of the GCVU's vetting service to all organisations which recruit persons having substantial, unsupervised access to children and vulnerable adults. The implementation of the strategy is being overseen by an implementation group on Garda vetting comprising key stakeholders. Preparations are at an advanced stage for the extension of vetting services and, to facilitate this, an additional 17 staff have been provided to the GCVU to more than double its numbers from 13 to 30.

In this regard, I am pleased that the GCVU has been successfully decentralised to new, custom-designed office accommodation in Thurles, County Tipperary, from where it will soon commence expansion of its vetting service. Vetting of persons whose country of origin is other than Ireland or who provide an address outside Ireland is dependent upon the timely co-operation of the relevant non-national authorities. Every effort is made by the vetting unit to get this information as quickly as possible.

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