Vol. 574 No. 1
445 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the checks which have been put in place, particularly for persons who are dealing with children, in schools, crèches, summer camps, hospitals and sport; the legislation which is promised in this regard; when it will be introduced; his plans to introduce legislation requiring Garda clearance for adults who work with children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26092/03]
461 Mr. Murphy asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if arrangements will be put in place to vet families who are willing to co-operate with associations looking after the disabled who wish to place children in their care for weekends. [26306/03]
462 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will report on the progress of the working group set up by the Garda Commissioner to examine the extension of clearance arrangements provided by the central vetting unit to other groups; the number of meetings of the working group which have taken place; and if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 1121 of 30 September 2003, it is expected the report from the working group will be ready by the end of November 2003. [26307/03]
477 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans for extending the vetting requirement for those working with children from those in the State sec tor to those in the private or voluntary sector. [26460/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 445, 461, 462 and 477 together.
Following a review of Garda vetting arrangements, a central vetting unit was established in January 2002 to deal with the then known demand for vetting. The unit currently processes approximately 100,000 vetting requests per annum in respect of, inter alia, prospective employees of health boards entering full-time employment who would have substantial unsupervised access to children or vulnerable persons. When the central vetting unit became fully operational and all its backlogs were cleared, it was envisaged that a phased extension of the vetting arrangements to other groups would take place.
To this end, a working group was established to examine the issue, taking account of all aspects of the vetting of persons coming in contact with children and vulnerable persons, be they full-time, part-time, voluntary or community workers or students on placements, including the scenarios envisaged by the Deputies.
The working group comprises representatives of the Garda Síochána, my Department, the Office of the Attorney General and the Departments of Health and Children and Education and Science. It has met on five occasions to date.
There is no current commitment to introduce legislation in the area of vetting. However, I understand that the working group is examining the possible role of statutory provisions in vetting arrangements generally, and I will give full consideration to any recommendations in this regard. The work of the group is ongoing at present, and I would hope to receive the report of its deliberations in the coming weeks.
