National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) (Amendment) Bill 2022: First Stage

Deputy Pa Daly

I move:

That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 and to provide for related matters.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for granting me time to introduce the Bill. I thank the staff in the Bills Office and the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for their assistance. Particular thanks are due to the Office of Parliamentary Advisers, OPLA, and Niamh McKenna, who helped me tease out the considerable legal issues involved while preserving the policy intent of the Bill. I will share time with my colleagues, Deputies Paul Donnelly and Cronin, who are co-signing the Bill.

Nobody questions the importance of the system of Garda vetting introduced in the 2012 Act. It is an important measure to protect children and vulnerable adults in combination with other safeguarding measures. Garda vetting is used in many professional and voluntary contexts in both paid and voluntary roles. I am sure many in this House have engaged with it for local sports clubs and voluntary organisations. It helps organisations and companies feel confident in the people they hire and enables compliance with legal obligations where sensitive work or vulnerable people are involved. However, the system is burdensome for many, especially when volunteers find themselves having to be vetted by multiple organisations, even with no criminal record. It puts people off.

This Bill sets out to provide a register of generalised consents, particularly where a number of vetting applications have to be made. It allows an individual to apply for inclusion on this register and will allow approved organisations for judo, for example, and the GAA and HSE to vet the individual without having to complete the full process every time. Ideally, we will look at the general review. I urge the Government to look at adopting the Bill's provisions or instituting a full review of vetting legislation.

Deputy Réada Cronin

I am happy to co-introduce this Bill with my comrades, Deputies Daly and Paul Donnelly. The purpose of the Bill is to keep the practice of vetting as effective as possible while making the process as efficient as possible for the community, the gardaí and, through them, wider society. It applies to people who have no criminal record or criminal issues outstanding. While Garda vetting is essential it can be burdensome, especially for volunteers. I have met them and been the person who has to go through it several times. We have a proud tradition of volunteerism in Ireland and it greatly enhances our communities.

We propose a register of generalised consents, where a person can apply to be added to the list instead of having to make multiple applications. It is a nightmare trying to remember if it was May or June when you moved from whatever house. This will keep the system at the security level necessary to protect society and make the process quicker and easier. With this Bill we can make it easier for volunteers to make their extraordinary contribution to our communities.

Deputy Paul Donnelly

I am delighted to co-sign this Bill with Deputies Daly and Cronin. I was a child welfare officer in my local GAA club, St. Peregrines, and I know the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, was a child welfare officer in his club, St. Brigid's, in the same constituency. I am sure he understands the predicament and how difficult it is.

I fully support and agree with the Garda vetting process but it can be overly bureaucratic, cumbersome and difficult for people to remember. I have often had people come back to me trying to figure out where they stayed when they were students. It can be difficult to go through the process over and over. At one stage I was vetted as an employee of Tusla. I was vetted as a mentor. I was then vetted because we had children staying over for a féile and, finally, as somebody who worked with Youthreach through the ETB. It is the same process over and over. It is a vital tool to protect our children and young people. Nobody argues with that but this Bill supports and protects young people and will help communities, voluntary groups and other organisations to get volunteers on board and retain them. That is what we want to see. I look forward to the Bill coming into effect.

Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 12 Oct 2022