Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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150. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her proposals to provide additional resources to the Garda vetting unit in view of the delays that occur in the processing of applications which causes problems for persons taking up new employment or changing employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20738/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that there is no question of a generalised delay in the processing of applications for persons who require Garda vetting. I am informed by the Garda Authorities that the current average processing time for vetting applications is four weeks. The primary purpose of the Garda employment vetting service is to seek to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults. Accordingly, the vetting process demands rigorous procedures to safeguard its integrity and to maintain the highest level of confidence by the public and organisations availing of the service. Any vetting process will take a certain minimum amount of time to complete and, taking into account the importance of measures to protect children and vulnerable adults while providing an effective and efficient service, the current average processing period is not unreasonable.

It can arise that in respect of some individual applications additional enquiries may be necessary, sometimes from the applicant themselves or from authorities located abroad and, as you will appreciate, the Garda Authorities have no control over such delays as may arise in these circumstances. This can result in processing times in excess of the average.

The Deputy may also wish to know that An Garda Síochána launched an 'e-vetting' system on 29 April 2016 which will facilitate the processing of applications in an on-line format, thus removing the current time-consuming process of manual applications. E-vetting will further streamline the vetting process and contribute to sustaining reduced processing times for vetting applications. The e-vetting system is designed to be compatible with the requirements of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016 and, in this regard, was launched in tandem with the commencement of the Acts.