Garda Vetting of Personnel

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 September 2011

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Ceisteanna (47)

David Stanton

Ceist:

78 Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of vetting applications received by the Garda Central Vetting Unit in each month of 2010 and to date in 2011; the number which were processed each month and the average time taken for an application to be processed; the number of complaints received from persons vetted who dispute the contents of the vetting report; the procedure which is followed once such a complaint is received; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24748/11]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Alan Shatter)

The information the Deputy seeks has been provided by the Garda authorities and is set out in the following table.

2010	2011 (to 18 September 2011)
Month	Received	Processed	Received	Processed
January	16,370	17,026	22,098	23,204
February	22,803	17,475	30,768	26,699
March	27,656	18,436	26,494	25,305
April	23,053	20,507	23,360	21,719
May	25,507	19,965	25,265	24,187
June	27,170	23,764	28,919	27,320
July	27,764	25,515	24,774	28,205
August	19,452	24,039	22,148	26,645
September	26,150	24,125	17,635	14,525
October	30,997	27,826
November	26,122	35,950
December	18,894	24,887
Total	291,938	279,515	221,461	217,809

I am informed by the Garda Authorities that the average processing time for vetting applications received at the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) is approximately 10 weeks.

I should mention that, in processing an individual vetting application, additional time may be required in cases where clarification is needed as to the details provided or where other enquiries need to be made, for example, when the person in question has lived and worked abroad. It should be understood that while the Gardaí make every effort to reduce the time to the minimum possible consistent with carrying out what are very necessary checks, there will always be a reasonably significant period required to process a vetting application and registered organisations have been advised to take account of this in their recruitment and selection processes.

In addition, the average processing time for vetting applications also fluctuates in line with periods of increased demand.

I am informed by the Garda Authorities that there is a dispute resolution procedure established with each organisation registered by the GCVU to facilitate any vetting subject who may wish to dispute the details contained in a Garda vetting disclosure issued in respect of them. Within this procedure, there were 335 dispute complaints received in 2010 and, to date, in 2011, there have been 283 such complaints.