Mayo Senator Paddy Burke has called for a standard vetting form to be available to all who are required to be vetted for a particular position or role.
During a recent Seanad Eireann Order of Business led by Seanad Leader Lisa Chambers, Senator Burke stated: "Many of our young people travel all over the world for a number of years and, at some stage, many will come back and find work in Ireland. As a country, we are looking for a lot of people to work in the HSE, the health service, teaching and many other areas in the State.
"If one spends six months in any country outside of Ireland, one has to be vetted in each of those countries. That puts an enormous onus on the person who gets a job here. In some cases, when people get a job, they are told that they have only hours to take up the job. They may have to get vetting in several countries right around the world. There are no proper forms to do so.
"The HSE and the Department of Education do not take responsibility for giving people the forms. There are no forms in the embassies around the world. The Garda states it is not its problem. However, there is quite clearly a problem in this regard.
"I ask the Leader to bring this to the attention of the Government. There should be a standard form in our embassies right around the world and the young people travelling around the world and perhaps going to stay more than six months in any one country should be made aware that when they come back here, they will need to be vetted in each of those countries when they come back.
"Moreover, the embassies should have forms of some type. In some countries one needs to be fingerprinted. The UK does not do fingerprinting except in the cases of criminals. There are quite a lot of problems in relation to vetting and certainly one cannot get vetted and take up a job within 72 hours, which has happened in some cases I know of. I ask the Leader to bring this to the attention of the Government, particularly to the Departments of Health and Education because it is a problem and we need those young people coming back here to take up positions."
Responding, Senator Chambers said: "Senator Paddy Burke raised an issue raised by Senator Kyne yesterday, namely Garda vetting. I suggested to Senator Kyne that it might be worth putting forward a Commencement Matter on this, but perhaps the two Senators could submit a Commencement Matter on the particular issue as it is quite niche. I understand Garda vetting is quite cumbersome, depending on where people are located, and can be a barrier to accessing employment, which is something we need to address and try to find a solution to."
