GARDA VETTING
Supporting
Your
Garda Vetting
Needs
As part of Roscommon Volunteer Centre’s commitment to support volunteering we provide a Garda Vetting service for not-for-profit groups in County Roscommon. The service is available for organisations that wish to vet persons but who do not have access to a Liaison Person within their own organisation.
The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016 provide a statutory basis for the vetting of persons carrying out relevant work with children or vulnerable adults. The Act, commenced on 29th April 2016, and also introduced electronic vetting (eVetting).
The National Vetting Bureau has compiled a comprehensive list of questions and answers for individuals and organisations and on the process itself.
In order to access the service, your organisation must first contact the vetting bureau at vetting@garda.ie to register with the vetting bureau. The vetting bureau will establish if your organisation is doing relevant work and requires vetting and will then give your organisation a registration number and instruct you to then contact us to provide a vetting service.
It is important to remember:
- To draft a role description for every employee and volunteer role which specifically references any interaction the individual might have with children or vulnerable persons.
- To carry out a risk assessment of all the roles in your organisation to help you assess whether the person being vetted can build up a relationship or trust with a child or vulnerable adult.
- To vet potential individuals before you engage them as an employee or volunteer. (However you can engage them in non-relevant work).
- Vetting subjects need to be vetted for each organisation that they volunteer/work with.
- Vetting disclosures must be made available to vetting subjects; therefore you must retain a copy of the disclosure for the length of time that the volunteer or employee is with you.
- You must check, verify and keep proof of the vetting subjects’ identity on file.
- All youth leaders, coaches, trainers, religious leaders who work with groups of children, whether alone or accompanied by another adult, must be vetted.
- For the purposes of the Act, a child is someone under the age of 18.
Any regular and necessary work or activities which is carried out by a person who has access to, or contact with, children or vulnerable persons.
The work or activities where people working with children and vulnerable adult will require vetting include:
- Childcare services
- Schools, hospitals and health services
- Residential services or accommodation for children or vulnerable persons
- Treatment, therapy or counselling services for children or vulnerable persons
- Provision of leisure, sporting or physical activities to children or vulnerable persons
- Promotion of religious beliefs
A full list of relevant work or activities can be obtained in Part 1 and 2 of Schedule 1 in the Act.
A full list of relevant work or activities can be obtained in Part 1 and 2 of Schedule 1 in the Act.
Any person who is carrying out work or activity, a necessary and regular part of which consists mainly of the person having access to, or contact with, children (under 18’s) or vulnerable adults. A relevant organisation shall not permit any person to undertake relevant work or activities on behalf of the organisation unless the organisation receives a vetting disclosure from the National Vetting Bureau in respect of that person. A person who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence.
A person, other than a child, who:
a) is suffering from a disorder of the mind, whether as a result of mental illness or dementia,
b) has an intellectual disability,
c) Is suffering from a physical impairment, whether as a result of injury, illness or age or
d) has a physical disability.
Which is of such a nature or degree:
i. As to restrict the capacity of the person to guard himself or herself against harm by another person, or
ii. That results in the person requiring assistance with the activities of daily living including dressing, eating, walking, washing and bathing.
Roscommon Volunteer Centre is a Registered Organisation with the National Vetting Bureau. Our Liaison Persons work directly with the Bureau and can receive and pass on vetting disclosures to Affiliates/Relevant Bodies (the organisations that we vet on behalf of). Each affiliate appoints one Garda Vetting Officer within their organisation to work with the Volunteer Centre in relation to vetting.
If you would like to find out more about our Garda vetting service, please email info@volunteerroscommon.ie or phone 089-219-9930. You will need to register with the Roscommon Volunteer Centre, attend a Garda Vetting training session, and sign a Service Level Agreement before we can vet for you.
During your training you will receive all the necessary information and forms to guide you through the process. The administrative fee is €5–€7.50 per form, depending on the type of organisation.
Since the introduction of electronic vetting (eVetting) it takes approximately one to two weeks for the forms to be processed by the National Vetting Bureau.