Skip to main content
Normal View

Garda Vetting Applications

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 January 2014

Thursday, 16 January 2014

Questions (238)

Timmy Dooley

Question:

238. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the measures he is taking to improve the time it takes to finalise a Garda vetting application; if additional gardaí are needed in this section; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2071/14]

View answer

Written answers

The Deputy may wish to note that the number of vetting applications received by the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) each year has risen from 187,864 in 2007 to 381,082 in 2013.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the current average processing time for applications is now approximately 6 weeks from date of receipt. Processing times fluctuate upwards and downwards depending on seasonal demands and volumes received, and depending on whether further enquiries have to be conducted with external Garda Stations or other agencies. However, this is a considerable improvement on July last year when processing times had reached 14 weeks.

I am committed to ensuring that An Garda Siochána has the resources to perform this most essential of tasks. In that regard, the Garda Commissioner has confirmed to me that there are now 174 whole-time equivalent staff (170 civilians and 4 members of An Garda Síochána) assigned to the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU). To put this in perspective, this represents an 87% increase on the staffing level at the end of December 2012 when 93 staff were assigned to the GCVU. A number of these new staff are still undergoing training and when this training has been completed I expect there will be a further positive effect on vetting times.

The Deputy may also wish to note that the development of an e-Vetting solution is well underway. This will facilitate the processing of applications in an e-format, thus removing the time-consuming current process of manually managing applications received. In streamlining the overall vetting process in this jurisdiction, the new system will further contribute to reductions in processing times for all vetting applications.

Top
Share