Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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795. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to review the legislation governing the qualification requirements and recruitment processes for persons engaged on-site by organisations such as holiday camps, film studios, sports events and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46472/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Insofar as the Deputy's question may relate to the matter of Garda vetting, the Deputy may wish to note that the current system of vetting is operated on an administrative basis by the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU). A vetting disclosure is made by the Unit in response to a written request and with the permission of the person who is the subject of that request. Garda vetting disclosures are issued to specified organisations registered with the GCVU for that purpose in respect of a particular post or employment. The Unit processed approximately 328,000 vetting applications on behalf of these organisations in 2012 and is expected to process in the region of 350,000 applications this year. All decisions relating to the employment of individuals rest with the relevant organisations concerned. The Deputy will appreciate that vetting in this context relates to the protection of children and vulnerable adults.

Should the Deputy be referring to the matter of private security, he may also wish to note that the Private Security Authority (PSA) is the statutory body responsible for the licensing and regulation of the private security industry. In the event that the question relates to private security at events, the Deputy may wish to note that the PSA has adopted a phased approach to licensing and that it proposes to commence the licensing of event security contractors in the first instance, with the licensing of employees to follow.

A Statutory Regulation and minimum standards for contractors working in the event security sector are currently being prepared. I believe these arrangements, when finalised, will be of great benefit to both the industry and the public in general in relation to security at a wide range of events. The Deputy will appreciate, aside from any issues which may arise in relation to vetting and any requirements in relation to the Private Security Authority, I have no functions in relation to legislation on general qualifications and recruitment practices in the sectors referred to by the Deputy

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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796. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding Garda vetting; if the situation has improved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46482/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy may wish to note that the number of vetting applications received by the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) each year has risen from 187,864 in 2007 to 327,903 in 2012 and it is expected that there will be upwards of 350,000 applications this year. I am informed by the Garda authorities that the current average processing time for applications is now approximately 9 weeks from date of receipt. However, seasonal fluctuations and the necessity to seek additional information on particular applications can result in this processing time being exceeded on occasion. Nonetheless, this is a significant improvement on the processing time of 14 weeks which existed in July this year. This improvement reflects the fact that I have given this matter particular priority as it is essential that the GCVU has the resources required to perform this most critical of roles effectively and efficiently.

In that context, I have been actively engaged on this issue with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. As a result of that engagement, I am pleased to say that the Garda Commissioner has confirmed to me that there are now 136 whole time equivalent staff assigned to the GCVU, some 41 of whom have been redeployed from elsewhere in the public service since the end of March 2013. Some of these redeployed staff have only recently completed their training in the vetting process, and the full impact of their work will be seen in the coming weeks. Furthermore, I have also recently received sanction for the redeployment of approximately 40 additional staff to the GCVU. This brings the total number of staff in that service to over 170, more than double that of the average allocation of 78 staff at the Unit over the past two and a half years.

The Deputy may also wish to note that the development of an e-Vetting solution is also underway. This will facilitate the processing of all applications in an e-format, thus removing the time-consuming current process of manually managing all applications received . The initial phase of testing this e-vetting system will take place during late 2013. When this is achieved, this system will streamline the overall vetting process in this jurisdiction, and further contribute to reductions in processing times for all vetting applications.