Mary Mitchell O'Connor
Question:534. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current waiting time for Garda vetting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7298/13]
View answerTuesday, 12 February 2013
Questions (534, 535, 536, 537)
Mary Mitchell O'Connor
Question:535. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current waiting time for Garda vetting when the person in question has received clearance in the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7299/13]
View answerMary Mitchell O'Connor
Question:536. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current waiting time for Garda vetting when the person in question has received clearance in the past 18 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7300/13]
View answerMary Mitchell O'Connor
Question:537. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current waiting time for Garda vetting when the person in question has received clearance in the past 24 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7301/13]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 534 to 537, inclusive, together.
The Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) provides employment vetting for approximately 20,000 organisations in Ireland which employ personnel to work in a full time part time, voluntary or student capacity with children and or vulnerable adults and who are registered with the Unit for this purpose. The average processing time for vetting procedures is currently 8 to 10 weeks. However, seasonal fluctuations and the necessity to seek additional information on particular applications can result in this processing time being exceeded on occasion. All organisations are aware of the processing time frames for the receipt of Garda vetting and have been advised to factor this into their recruitment and selection processes.
As the Deputy may be aware, Garda vetting certificates are issued to specified organisations registered with GCVU for that purpose in respect of a particular post or employment. A vetting disclosure is made in response to a written request and with the permission of the person who is the subject of that request. I should emphasise that the certificate is a disclosure to the requesting, registered organisation of the position at the time when it is issued. Each time a new vetting application is received, new and full vetting checks are conducted. This is to ensure that the most recent data available is taken into account. Accordingly the processing time remains the same whether for new applications or cases where previous vetting has occurred. The Deputy may wish to note that in order to observe equity and fairness in respect of all applicants for Garda vetting, the standard procedure is that all applications are processed in chronological order from their date of receipt. It is my objective that processing times should be kept to a minimum, while maintaining the overall integrity of the vetting system. In that regard, following discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, I am pleased to announce that sanction has been granted for an additional 25 staff to be re-deployed from the Department of Agriculture to the Garda Central Vetting Unit in the near future.