Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 408: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will support a matter (details supplied). [12265/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) provides employment vetting for a large number of organisations in Ireland registered with the Gardaí for this purpose and which employ persons in a full-time, part-time, voluntary or training capacity to positions where they would have substantial, unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that an application for employment vetting has recently been received by the GCVU in respect of the person to whom the Deputy refers and it will be processed in the normal course. It may be helpful in relation to the matter raised if I clarify the vetting process for the Deputy. In response to a written request for vetting, the GCVU releases criminal history information in respect of the person concerned to the prospective recruiting organisation. The information released would be factual information referring to convictions and prosecutions whether pending or completed and whether successful or unsuccessful. Vetting is only carried out with the consent of the vetting subject. This factual criminal history information is returned to the designated person in the registered organisation which submitted the vetting application.

In the employment vetting process, therefore, it is not the function of the Garda Síochána to take a decision on the suitability or otherwise of an individual applicant. The results of the vetting application should form only one element of the overall recruitment decision, albeit an important one. The decisions on the suitability for recruitment or appointment of the person concerned rest at all times, as they rightly should, with the recruiting organisation.