Duncan Smith
Ceist:606. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Justice if extra resources have been provided to the Garda vetting unit of An Garda Síochána in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17902/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 5 April 2022
Ceisteanna (606)
Freagraí scríofa
I have sought the information requested by the Deputy from the Garda authorities, however, the information was not available in time. I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51
I refer to Parliamentary Questions No. 606 and 607 of 5 April 2022 where you asked:
‘if extra resources have been provided to the Garda vetting unit of An Garda Síochána in 2022’
‘the current turnaround time for an average Garda vetting application’
As you will recall, I sought the information you requested from the Garda authorities and undertook to contact you again once the information was to hand.
As you will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible by law for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, which includes the allocation of resources. In addition, vetting applications are an operational matter for the Garda National Vetting Bureau (GNVB). As Minister, I have no role in the matter.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that all Garda National Vetting Bureau (GNVB) staff have continued to work on-site over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, working on a 7-day-week roster to ensure that delivery of this essential pubic service has been maintained.
Throughout this period, the GNVB has focused on ensuring that minimum disruption was caused to the vetting process for the 26,600 relevant organisations working with children and vulnerable persons across Ireland, despite the huge demands placed on the services of the GNVB.
The GNVB processes hundreds of thousands of vetting requests every year, with a projected number in 2022 of over half a million vetting requests as the economy and voluntary services continue to re-open. I am advised that 140,779 vetting requests were received in Q1 2022, an increase of 21% compared to pre-Covid Q1 2020, and an increase of 58% over Q1 2021 when vetting requests were down due to the pandemic.
This has resulted in an unusually high number of vetting applications to be in the system at the same time and with other pressing demands has extended the standard turnaround time from 5 working days to approximately 6 working days for most applications.
The GNVB has previously communicated with all of the relevant organisations to advise them of the current turnaround times and to assure them that the GNVB continues to process their vetting applications as expeditiously as possible.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that the GNVB continuously assesses current and upcoming vacancies and liaises closely with Garda Human Resources on backfilling any vacancies which arise from transfers, promotions and retirements.
I am advised that there are 152 Garda staff and 8 Garda members working in the GNVB as of 5 April 2022. The breakdown of staff is as follows;
152 Garda staff (143.6 whole time equivalent)
- 1 Service Officer
- 1 Higher Executive Officer
- 21 Executive Officers (19.2 whole time equivalent)
- 129 Clerical Officers (122.4 whole time equivalent)
8 Garda members
- 1 Superintendent
- 7 Sergeants
I am advised that the GNVB has applied for 13 Temporary Clerical Officers to augment processing in 2022 and has to date received an allocation of 5 Temporary Clerical Officers. I am further advised that as part of a new Garda Vetting Strategy, the GNVB will be preparing Business Cases to further increase its capacity over the next 12 months.
I trust this information is of assistance.