Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 283: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the actions he has taken or plans to take to reduce the waiting times for Garda vetting. [6361/11]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 293: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the steps he will take to expedite the waiting times for Garda vetting for community and voluntary services which currently stands at approximately 16 weeks which is detrimental to all those who have been offered but are prevented from taking up a position of employment and to the wider community who suffer because their services are short staffed in the mean time; and if he will introduce a reasonable statutory timeframe within which vetting must be completed. [6519/11]

John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 297: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the plans he has to address the issue of long delays in processing Garda clearance applications; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that such delays are causing much disruption to employers and employees alike in filling positions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6635/11]

Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 310: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding Garda vetting; the way it is working at present; if the process has been centralised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6878/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Question Nos. 283, 293, 297 and 310 together.

Let me say at the outset that I am concerned at the length of time currently being taken to process vetting applications. I recognise that it is important to process these applications within a reasonable time frame both for the benefit of the applicants and the organisations for which they will work.

There are currently a total of 89 gardaí and Garda civilian personnel assigned to the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU). This represents a very significant increase in the level of personnel assigned to the unit, which stood at only 13 before the current process of development in Garda vetting began in 2005.

A number of immediate measures are being taken to improve the processing times. The sanction of the Department of Finance has been obtained to retain the services of 10 temporary employees in the GCVU. A further sanction has been obtained to engage an additional 10 temporary employees for the unit and these are now being recruited. This should have an impact on processing times. In addition further steps are under consideration with a view to alleviating the pressure on the staff of the GCVU and reduce the time taken for the processing of applications.

The Garda Central Vetting Unit, based in Thurles, County Tipperary provides a centralised employment vetting to organisations in Ireland registered with the Garda Síochána for this purpose and which employ or engage 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, at present, the average processing time for vetting applications received at the GCVU is approximately 10 weeks.

The service has been expanded greatly in recent years as part of an ongoing, phased programme to roll-out vetting to an increasing number of organisations in the child and vulnerable adult care sectors. This target group is the clear policy priority. Within this programme the vetting service has now been extended to over 18,000 organisations. The GCVU has managed a substantial increase over recent years in the numbers of vetting applications it receives. The figures since 2006 are as follows:

The average processing time for vetting applications fluctuates in line with periods of increased demand. In processing an individual vetting application, additional time may be required in cases where clarification is needed as to the details provided or where other inquiries need to be made, for example, when the person in question has lived and worked abroad. There will always be a reasonably significant time period required to process a vetting application. Registered organisations have been advised to take account of this in their recruitment and selection process. However, the gardaí make every effort to reduce the time to the minimum possible consistent with carrying out what are very necessary checks.

The question of legislative proposals to provide a statutory framework for vetting will necessitate consideration of a wide range of issues including information sharing with other relevant bodies, such as the HSE. It will also have to have regard to how responsibility for the management of information relevant to the vetting process is assigned and the need to protect the constitutional rights of all citizens. Any legislative proposals will be announced and brought forward in the usual way.