Galway West TD Noel Grealish has hit out at the ”unacceptable” delay in reforming the process of Garda vetting.
He said that with October being the busiest month of the year for Garda vetting applications to be submitted, clubs and charities around Galway were facing mounting frustration with the system.
”At the moment, you could have cleared the Garda vetting process last week that allows you to go and coach your local camogie team," he said.
”Then, next week, the minor football team coach gets a job somewhere else and you are asked to step in, but you have to go through the whole process again.
”And if you decide to be the good citizen and offer to help with a meals-on-wheels service ... once again, you have to jump through the hoops and send off the form.
”The current system is just ridiculous — once somebody has received Garda clearance, that should give them a pass for, say, the next two years, during which time it's like having a driving licence, they can sign up to help any team, charity or whatever,” said Deputy Grealish.
The Independent TD said that a review group had been set up to streamline the Garda vetting service and announced by the Minister for Justice in 2021.
”She said then she expected that their work would take six months, but here we are, approaching the end of 2024, and they still haven't reported. When I last raised it in the Dáil earlier this year I was told it would be reporting 'relatively soon' but there's still no sign.”
Deputy Grealish said that last year was the busiest year for the Garda National Vetting Bureau since it was established, completing almost 590,000 applications.
”The numbers of applications being submitted this year are even greater, according to the figures for the first nine months of 2024.
”We are now in October, which is the busiest month each year for vetting requests — no doubt down to the number of volunteers signing up after the summer break to do volunteer by coaching teams, helping charities, etc.
”But countless thousands of these applications are duplications, people who have already got clearance but need it again for a different activity.
”And what a waste of Garda time are the duplicate applications, at a time when Garda resources are stretched elsewhere.
"Garda vetting plays an important role in keeping our communities safe, but the current system is a whole lot of red tape and it's totally unacceptable that we have been waiting for years for it to be reformed,” Deputy Grealish concluded.
