Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 July 2011
197 Deputy Mary Mitchell O’Connor asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will consider amending the Garda vetting process such that it be conducted on the basis of PPS numbers in order to alleviate the potential problems caused by persons receiving Garda clearance and then changing their name in an attempt to avoid being tracked. [19285/11]
View answerThe Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) provides employment vetting for a large number of organisations in Ireland registered with the Gardaí for this purpose and which employ/engage persons in a full-time, part-time, voluntary or training capacity to positions where they would have substantial, unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults.
In the vetting process, in response to a written request from a registered organisation, the Garda authorities will release criminal history information in respect of the person who is the subject of the vetting application. A vetting application may only be made with the written consent of the subject of the vetting application who provides identifying information which is checked against Garda records and authorises the Garda authorities to furnish a statement that there are no convictions recorded against the subject in the State or elsewhere or a statement of any convictions recorded against the subject as the case may be or a statement of all prosecutions, successful or unsuccessful, pending or completed in the State or elsewhere as the case may be.
In accordance with the provisions of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005, a person's PPS number cannot be used as an identifier in the Garda vetting process.
