Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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47. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the location for processing of Garda vetting applications; the number of persons employed to manage this process; if there is a backlog, and if so, the numbers and reasons for same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27425/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that there is no undue delay or backlog in the Garda employment vetting process. I am informed by the Garda Authorities that at present 80 percent of vetting applications are processed by the Garda Central Vetting Bureau in under five days. I do not consider that this is an unreasonable timeframe. This represents a dramatic improvement in turnaround times for the processing of vetting applications in recent years, falling from an average of 14 weeks in mid-2013.

This improvement is the result of an unprecedented investment by the Government and the Garda Authorities in this area of Garda activity, including an increase of over 80 per cent in staffing levels - the number of staff assigned at present stands at 173 - and the roll out earlier this year of the e-Vetting system. The Garda National Vetting Bureau is located in Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

An Garda Síochána launched an e-Vetting system in tandem with the commencement by me in April this year of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012-2016. E-Vetting facilitates the processing of applications in an on-line format and this has significantly streamlined the vetting process and contributed to a sustained reduction in processing times for vetting applications. I am informed that, currently, 85 per cent of organisations registered for vetting are operating the e-Vetting system and the Garda Authorities are working to encourage all other organisations to do so. For those vetting applications that continue to be submitted in paper format, the average turnaround time is in the order of four weeks.

One very important feature of the e-Vetting system is that the individual applicant can track the progress of their own vetting application on line and can, therefore, see when their application has been processed and returned to the relevant registered organisation.

In some individual cases processing times for applications can be longer when, for example, additional enquiries may be necessary, which may involve seeking information from abroad, or where errors have been made in the application. Delays can also occur in other aspects of the application process which are outside of the control of the Garda Authorities, for example, in the submission or return of applications by the registered organisations.

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 protecting children and vulnerable adults while providing an effective and efficient service, the current processing period is not unreasonable.