Written answers

Thursday, 24 November 2016

Department of Education and Skills

Garda Vetting of Personnel

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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93. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will change the rules surrounding the Garda vetting process for teachers which currently means that a substitute teacher must complete a separate Garda vetting for each school that they work in; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36660/16]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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In April of this year, the Minister for Justice and Equality commenced the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016 (the Vetting Act) which put in place statutory vetting requirements for the Garda vetting of persons involved in working with children and vulnerable persons, including those working in schools.

Prior to the Act’s commencement,  my Department published (in April 2015) a circular which outlined the advance preparations and actions to be taken by all school authorities and registered teachers so as to facilitate, as far as possible, a smooth transition to the statutory vetting requirements once they became operational.  These included specific steps to be taken both by school authorities and registered teachers as to help ensure that teachers would be readily employable in substitute teaching positions arising in schools post commencement of the statutory requirements.

When the vetting requirements were commenced in April of this year, my Department published a further circular which set out the statutory vetting requirements applicable to schools along with the practical arrangements in place to support the vetting procedures.  This circular (0031/2016) contains information about the limited exemptions to the requirement under Section 12(1) of the Vetting Act to obtain a vetting disclosure from the National Vetting Bureau prior to commencing an employment, including information about the exemptions that apply in certain circumstances to substitute teaching positions.

Amendments to the Teaching Council Act enacted in 2015 also made provision for the Teaching Council to put in place a streamlined electronic mechanism for school employers to meet the requirements of the Vetting Act in respect of registered teachers.  This mechanism ensures that once a vetting disclosure is obtained by the Teaching Council in respect of a registered teacher, that disclosure can, with the consent of the teacher concerned, be made available electronically to any school employer that requires it for the purposes of the Vetting Act, including where required in respect of substitute teaching positions. 

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