Vol. 568 No. 2
208 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will investigate the procedures in regard to clearance of volunteers under the code of conduct for child safety to check the possibility of a common clearance for volunteers involved on a number of sporting and voluntary activities which at present necessitates clearance for each activity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16216/03]
As the Deputies are aware, in 1998 my predecessor requested the Garda Commissioner to undertake a comprehensive review of Garda clearance arrangements in the child care area generally. Arising from this review it was decided that a central vetting unit would be set up to deal with the then known demand for clearances. In July 2001 sanction was received for the recruitment of additional staff for the new unit to be based in Garda headquarters and following recruitment and training of the new staff the unit commenced operations on 2 January, 2002. The unit currently processes clearance requests in respect of prospective employees entering full-time employment in the health care area who have substantial unsupervised access to children or vulnerable persons.
When the central vetting became fully operational and all its backlogs were cleared it was envisaged that a phased extension of the clearance arrangements to other groups would take place. To this end a working group has been established by the Garda Commissioner to examine the issue, taking account of all aspects of the vetting of persons coming in contact with children and vulnerable persons, be they full-time, part-time, voluntary or community workers or students on placements. The Departments of Education and Science and Health and Children and the Attorney General's office have been requested to participate in the working group. The work of the group is ongoing at present.
