Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

157. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the waiting times for receiving Garda vetting; the reason a person who has received Garda vetting in 2016 and changes employment cannot use previous clearance; her plans to improve delays or change the process of Garda vetting; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20851/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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.

Full vetting checks are conducted by the Garda vetting unit for each new vetting application received to ensure that the most recent data available is taken into account. This is because once there has been any significant lapse of time between one employment and another, the original Garda Vetting Disclosure must be reviewed to take account of any changes in information, such as more recent criminal convictions.

Furthermore, under the Data Protection Acts, any sensitive personal data which employers use in regard to their employees must be current, accurate and up-to-date. The general non-transferability and contemporaneous nature of the current process also protects against the risk of fraud or forgery. Such procedures are in line with best practice internationally.

There are, however, certain limited circumstances where organisations can share a single vetting disclosure where this is agreed to by the vetting applicant. For example, persons involved in voluntary work may be doing work with more than one voluntary organisation at the same time, and may agree with the vetting applicant to share a single vetting disclosure. Similar arrangements arise in the health sector in regard to persons working as locums, agency nurses or other temporary employees in a number of different organisations, or in the education sector where substitute teachers are on panels for substitute teaching in more than one school.

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.