Written answers

Tuesday, 18 September 2018

Department of Justice and Equality

Garda Vetting

Photo of Niamh SmythNiamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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302. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to review the Garda vetting system; his views on concerns outlined by persons (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37521/18]

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the primary purpose of the employment vetting carried out by the Garda National Vetting Bureau is to seek to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults. Vetting is carried out by An Garda Síochána primarily in accordance with the provisions of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012-2016.

Vetting checks are conducted by the Vetting Bureau for each new 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 vetting disclosure must be reviewed to take account of any changes in information, such as more recent criminal convictions.

Furthermore, the Data Protection Acts require that any sensitive personal data which employers use in regard to their employees must be current, accurate and up-to-date. Importantly, the general non-transferability and contemporaneous nature of the current process also helps to protect against the risk of fraud or forgery in the process.

I am pleased to advise the Deputy that at present, 80% of overall vetting applications are being processed by the National Vetting Bureau in five working days. This efficiency has been achieved by the deployment of the e-vetting system which facilitates the on-line processing of applications for vetting from registered organisations. The e-vetting system is available to all registered organisations and the Garda authorities are ready to assist those organisations who are not yet using the e-vetting system to do so. In circumstances where there is such a sustained reduction in processing times, the issue of vetting “transferability” is largely obviated.

That said, the Deputy will wish to be aware that the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012-2016 provides at section 12 for certain circumstances where organisations can share a single vetting disclosure where this is agreed to by the vetting applicant and by the organisations in question.

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