Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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509. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality in view of the delay in implementing the National Vetting Bureau Act 2012 if he will clarify the categories of employees currently are legally required to have been Garda vetted in order to take up employment; . if persons working on State sponsored work experience programmes – CE, Tús, JobBridge and so on are subject to the same requirements as for other employees who are legally required to have been Garda vet ted; when the new requirements regarding Gardavetting under the 2012 Act will come into effect. [18975/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Garda Central Vetting Unit provides employment vetting for approximately 20,000 organisations in Ireland, registered with the Unit for this purpose. There is a legal obligation under various acts to conduct vetting in respect of a number of different employment sectors:

- Public Service Appointments, including Government Departments, Local Authorities, Customs and Excise, An Post, the Private Security Authority, the Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána etc.

- Certain public transport licences, such as Taxi Licensing, road hauliers etc.

- Persons licensed to work as medical practitioners, nurses, teachers etc.

In addition, it is Government policy that persons working with children or vulnerable persons, such as carers, child care workers, youth workers, community and sports workers, religious workers, leisure centre workers etc. should be vetted. In that context, persons working on State sponsored work experience programmes – CE, Tús, JobBridge require vetting if the work involves the provision of services to children or vulnerable persons. The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Adults) Act 2012 gives legal effect to this vetting requirement.

The Minister is in consultation with his colleagues to determine the appropriate date for commencement of the 2012 National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012.