Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 March 2018
310. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda vetting applications that were submitted in 2015, 2016 and 2017; the number that were fully processed in each year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13864/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra311. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons that submitted multiple Garda vetting applications in respect of different organisations they were involved with which require Garda vetting in each of the years 2015 to 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13865/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra312. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if consideration has been given to reforming the Garda vetting process to remove the need for multiple applications by persons who are in a number of organisations that require Garda vetting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13866/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra320. Deputy Eugene Murphy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to review the Garda vetting system which demands that a person working with different community groups must make separate applications; and if this system can be replaced with one overall clearance certificate which would be issued on an annual basis. [14246/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 310 to 312, inclusive, and 320 together.
As the Deputy will be aware, the primary purpose of the employment vetting carried out by the Garda National Vetting Bureau is to seek to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults and it is carried out by An Garda Síochána primarily in accordance with the provisions of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012-2016.
Vetting checks are conducted by the Garda National Vetting Bureau for each new vetting application received to ensure that the most recent data available is taken into account. This is because once there has been any significant lapse of time between one employment and another, the original vetting disclosure must be reviewed to take account of any changes in information, such as more recent criminal convictions.
Furthermore, the Data Protection Acts require that any sensitive personal data which employers use in regard to their employees must be current, accurate and up-to-date. Importantly, the general non-transferability and contemporaneous nature of the current process also helps to protect against the risk of fraud or forgery in the process.
At present, 80% of overall vetting applications are being processed by the National Vetting Bureau in five working days. This efficiency has been achieved by the deployment of the e-vetting system which facilitates the on-line processing of applications for vetting from registered organisations. The e-vetting system is available to all registered organisations and I am informed that the Garda Authorities are ready to assist those organisations who are not yet using the e-vetting system to do so. In circumstances where there is such a sustained reduction in processing times, the issue of vetting “transferability” is largely obviated.
That said, there are certain limited circumstances where organisations can share a single vetting disclosure where this is agreed to by the vetting applicant. Section 12(3)(A) of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 (as amended) provides that two or more relevant organisations can enter into a joint written agreement in relation to the employment, contracting, permitting or placement of an person to undertake relevant work or activities thereby providing for only one of the organisations being required to conduct vetting in respect of that person.
Regarding the request for statistical information on vetting, I am informed by the Garda Authorities that the National Vetting Bureau does not keep statistics in respect of the number of individuals that have made multiple Garda vetting applications for different organisations.
I am further informed that the following tables provide a breakdown of the numbers of applications received and processed in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
|
Year |
Applications Received |
|
2017 |
497,026 |
|
2016 |
389,548 |
|
2015 |
349,910 |
|
Year |
Applications Processed |
|
2017 |
487,934 |
|
2016 |
360,395 |
|
2015 |
319,592 |
The Deputy may appreciate that there is a natural variance between what is received and completed as there are applications on hand at the end of each year which would have been received within the turnaround time applicable. These applications are carried over to the start of the following year.
