Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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90. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to speed up and deal with the delays at present experienced by those awaiting Garda vetting; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28908/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that there is no particular delay in the Garda employment vetting process; rather there has been a very significant improvement in vetting processing times in recent months.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that at present 80 percent of vetting applications are processed by the Garda National Vetting Bureau in under five working days. 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 has come about as a result of an unprecedented investment by the Government and the Garda Authorities in providing this service, including an increase of over 80 percent in staffing levels and the roll out earlier this year of an e-vetting system.

In April this year I commenced the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012-2016 and in tandem with that An Garda Síochána launched the e-vetting system. E-vetting facilitates the online processing of applications and this has significantly streamlined the vetting process and contributed to a sustained reduction in processing times for vetting applications. I am informed that at present 85% 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.

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

For those vetting applications that continue to be submitted in paper format, the average turnaround time is in the order of four weeks from the receipt of the application by the Vetting Bureau and this represents a minimum timeframe given the administrative input required.

Processing times for applications can be longer in some individual cases when, for example, additional enquiries may be necessary or where errors have been made in the application. It is important to note that 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 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.