Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 December 2005
30 Mr. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the position with regard to the vetting of all teachers and other staff by the central vetting unit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39532/05]
View answer36 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Education and Science the categories of persons working in schools which are included under the Garda vetting programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39657/05]
View answer82 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Education and Science if she will ensure that members of school boards of management will be vetted by the central vetting unit prior to appointment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39534/05]
View answer109 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Education and Science if all full and part-time teachers and other school staff will be vetted by the central vetting unit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39533/05]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 30, 36, 82 and 109 together.
Ensuring the protection, health and welfare of children is a key concern for the Government, for parents, for agencies that work with children and for society generally and the Government is determined to do all it can to keep our children and vulnerable adults safe.
In the education sector, vetting is available in respect of prospective employees working with children in detention schools as well as special needs assistants, SNAs, and bus escorts to children with special needs. My colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, has announced a doubling of the number of staff employed in the unit to ensure that they can handle a greater volume of requests from employers. The unit will commence the augmentation of its existing vetting arrangements upon decentralisation. It is expected that this will happen early next month. The provision of additional staff resources will enable the Garda Síochána's vetting services to be extended to all persons working with children and vulnerable adults. This will include teachers, caretakers, bus drivers and others working with children, whether on a full-time or part-time basis.
The issue of vetting of members of boards of management raises the wider issue of vetting of people who volunteer in the education sector. My view is that the determining factor in deciding whether or not such persons should be vetted is the extent to which they have unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults. In consultation with the education partners, I intend to examine this issue closely as the Garda vetting service expands.
