I am informed by the Garda authorities that all criminal records available to the Data Protection Processing Unit can be found within the Unit with the exception of historical records that may be in existence but have not been made available by other prosecuting agencies and or the Court Service or criminal records imposed externally to Ireland.
An Garda Síochána are capable of locating within their own records every criminal record available to them as handed down by the State; however, as previously stated, not all criminal records handed down by the State are available for the reasons mentioned above. Criminal history vetting for general employment purposes, here or abroad, is not available on demand. Where employment which involves working with children or vulnerable adults in Ireland is concerned, the Garda Central Vetting Unit provides a full vetting service to organisations registered with them for that purpose.
Police Certificates of Character may be issued by An Garda Síochána in respect of a given individual, but only for the purposes of foreign consular and immigration requirements, foreign business establishment and for employment in EU Institutions. An application for a Certificate of Character may be made at a person's local Garda Station.
Finally an individual may apply to the Garda Síochána for a disclosure under Section 4 of the Data Protection Act 1988 (as amended) for a copy of the personal data which is maintained by An Garda Síochána. Such a disclosure is made to the individual to whom the data relates.
