Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 191: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the percentage of the entire cohort of primary school teachers that have been Garda vetted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13141/12]

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 192: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the percentage of the entire cohort of secondary school teachers that have been Garda vetted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13142/12]

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 193: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the percentage of the entire cohort of third level lecturers that have been Garda vetted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13143/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 191 to 193, inclusive, together.

The Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) provides employment vetting for over 19,000 organisations in Ireland who are registered with the Gardaí for this purpose and which employ/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. Amongst these organisations are the Teaching Council, with whom primary and secondary school teachers are registered, and various Third Level institutions. Vetting is carried out in response to written requests made through these registered organisations on behalf of the individual who is to be vetted. As the GCVU only has responsibility for processing the applications it receives from, and issuing the response to, these organisations, it is not in a position to say what percentage of the entire cohort of primary and secondary teachers or third level lecturers have been vetted to date.

However, following inquiries with the Department of Education and Skills, I understand that there are approximately 73,000 teachers registered with the Teaching Council of whom approximately 30,000 have been vetted under the arrangements for vetting of teaching staff introduced in 2006. I am further informed that in late 2010 the Department of Education and Skills issued a circular which updated and clarified the requirements for Garda vetting as part of recruitment procedures for all teaching and non-teaching positions. I am also advised by that Department that with regard to third level lecturers, the higher education institutions are autonomous statutory bodies and they deal directly with the management of their staff and related issues such as vetting through the GCVU.