Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 249: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she is concerned about the length of time community employment applicants are having to wait for garda clearance; if she is aware of the amount of schemes adversely affected by these wait times; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33399/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department of Social Protection is committed to ensuring the protection of children and/or vulnerable adults. It is Community Employment policy that participants on any scheme that gives individuals substantive unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults are subject to Garda Vetting. This policy has been in place since June, 2009 in compliance with Childcare Legislation/Regulations and with legal advice.

Once an individual has been selected for a CE position that requires Garda Vetting, their Garda Vetting application can be processed through either my Department or through the employing organisation if they are already registered with the Garda Central Vetting Office.

The Garda Central Vetting Office are doing their utmost to process applications speedily. In relation to Community Employment over 1,500 Garda Vetting applications have been made by my Department to the end of June this year in addition to the applications submitted directly by the employing organisations.

Applications from my Department are taking approximately 6 weeks on average to process. Some applications with addresses outside the state, or pending further regional investigation or who submit incomplete forms can take longer to process.