Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has received information relating to the recent Prime Time programme highlighting the standards of some organisations within the home care sector. One of the main problems highlighted in the programme was the absence of Garda vetting for people dealing with the elderly. However, the Mayo-based TD is aware that some voluntary organisations in Mayo are waiting more than two years to avail of access to vetting procedures.
According to Dep Kenny these organisations are involved in dealing with the elderly on a daily basis but they still have been refused access to vetting services for their volunteers. He has also raised this issue in the Dáil Chamber with An Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
“Firstly, I have no doubts about the standards of service provision by the organisations that have contacted me,” Dep Kenny said. “They are voluntary organisations doing an outstanding service in their communities. Instead, they have contacted me because they are unable to avail of Garda vetting despite waiting in excess of two years for approval.
“I have raised the issue of vetting delays being experienced by individual applicants in the past,” he added. “In those instances, waiting periods had grown to 12 to 14 weeks on average for individuals applying to work in certain organisations as the number of applications soared. However, this is a separate issue indicating the complete lack of resources being made available by the Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern, to An Garda Síochána. It has always been my experience that An Garda Síochána and the Garda Central Vetting Unit do the best possible job within their resources. I have already contacted the Minister on this issue and I am calling upon him to allocate extra resources to the Garda Central Vetting Unit. This will help ensure that voluntary organisations dealing with the elderly can avail of Garda vetting for their employees and volunteers.”
