Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if his attention has been drawn to the delays in processing Garda vetting applications notwithstanding the efforts of the bureau to deal as quickly as possible with the significant volume they receive, in view of the fact that the delays being experienced are having serious implications both for prospective employees and employers as these persons cannot commence their employment until Garda vetting has been completed; the steps he will take to allocate additional staff to deal with the backlog; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12021/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) provides employment vetting for approximately 20,000 organisations in Ireland which employ personnel to work in a full time part time, voluntary or student capacity with children and or vulnerable adults and who are registered with the Unit for this purpose. The Unit processed approximately 328,000 vetting applications on behalf of these organisations in 2012. The current average processing time is approximately 8 to 10 weeks. However, seasonal fluctuations and the necessity to seek additional information on particular applications can result in this processing time being exceeded on occasion. All organisations are aware of the processing time frames for the receipt of Garda vetting and have been advised to factor this into their recruitment and selection processes.

The Deputy may wish to note that in order to observe equity and fairness in respect of all applicants for Garda vetting, the standard procedure is that all applications from no matter what organisation are processed in chronological order from their date of receipt. It is my objective that processing times should be kept to a minimum, while maintaining the overall integrity of the vetting system. In that regard, following recent discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, sanction was recently granted for an additional 25 staff to be re-deployed from the Department of Agriculture to the Garda Central Vetting Unit in the near future.

The Deputy may wish to note that Garda Central Vetting Unit will become the National Vetting Bureau under the provisions of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 and will have a substantially expanded role under that legislation. I am currently engaged with An Garda Síochána and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in addressing the staffing issues relevant to the coming into force of the 2012 Act.