Vetting to protect children ready to go

ALL people working with children will face stringent background checks from January, more than 16 months after the Government first announced extended vetting controls.

The Garda Central Vetting Unit (CVU) has been working from Thurles since earlier this month after it was finally given the extra staff first promised by Children’s Minister Brian Lenihan in September 2004.

But because most of the 31 civilian staff, overseen by a garda inspector and two sergeants, must be trained and the new computer system has to be tested, the extended service will not come into operation until January.

Garda press officer Superintendent Kevin Donohoe said the staff have been working from temporary accommodation at a Shannon Development premises in Thurles since the unit moved from garda headquarters in Dublin three weeks ago.

A number of staff are newly recruited and must undergo training, while other logistical matters also need to be addressed.

“We would expect to continue providing the current service, which applies to the health service, from next week and the extended service should begin on a phased basis from early January,” Supt Donohoe said.

He expects the full service to check backgrounds of all people working with children to be in place within a few weeks of the extended service beginning.

Children’s Ombudsman Emily Logan said in August that she believes children’s rights to full protection are not being met in the absence of a broader garda vetting service, although this was not the only way of providing increased security for young people.

Currently, only prospective employees in the health service with unsupervised access to children and vulnerable adults, and those on some Department of Justice childcare schemes, are vetted for criminal convictions. The CVU processes around 100,000 such requests a year but this will significantly increase from next year.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin has said the extended vetting service would mean background checks could be carried out on all teachers, school caretakers and school bus drivers.