Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 242: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress which has been made with regard to Garda clearance for child care workers; if he has satisfied himself that the situation provides adequate assurances for the children who are cared for by child care workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12307/06]

Michael 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.

Finally, it is worth noting that criminal record checks, while being capable in appropriate circumstances of making a significant contribution to ensuring that unsuitable persons do not secure positions of trust, are not the sole answer to ensuring applicants' suitability for posts. There will continue to be a particular onus of care on employers to maintain good employment practice both during the recruitment stage, for example, good interviewing practice and checking references, and in ensuring adequate supervision arrangements post recruitment.