In September 2012 we posted an article on the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012, which looked to set out vetting and disclosure procedures for persons intending to work with children or vulnerable adults. This Bill has now been enacted into Irish Legislation (following its passing in December 2012 and enforcement order in March 2013), and can be found here. It is entitled the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012.
Its enactment rise to the establishment of the National Vetting Bureau (previously the Garda Central Vetting Unit) who will be responsible for vetting of worker, and there is now the mandatory requirement for all persons working with children and vulnerable persons to be Garda vetted. Vetting was already mandatory in certain industries (under the Child Care Act 1991, the Child Care Regulations 2006, the Teaching Council Act 2001, the Taxi Regulation Act 2003 and the Private Security Services Act 2004) and now under the new Act it will be mandatory for any worker involved with Children or Vulnerable adults to be formally vetted.
Under the Act persons are prohibited from working in “relevant work or activities” relating to Children or vulnerable adults unless they have been vetted. Persons who assist occasionally and on a voluntary basis in certain activities are exempt from the procedures under section 3 of the Act. for clarity a child is a person under the age of 18 years and a vulnerable person is someone other than a child who is suffering from a disorder of the mind, whether as a result of mental illness or dementia, has an intellectual disability, is suffering from a physical impairment, whether as a result of injury, illness or age or has a physical disability.
Should an organisation wish to "vet" a person in order to work with children or vulnerable persons, an application must be made to the National Vetting Bureau by a relevant organisation. The relevant organisation may be the organisation planning to engage the person or it may be another organisation that has been deemed a relevant organisation. Where an application is made by another organisation on the person’s behalf, the application needs to specify this. The National Vetting Bureau will have access to information from the Gardaí and also from other bodies such as HSE investigations, the Medical Council, the Nursing Council or the Teaching Council all dependant on the risk arising from the person being vetted. it is very much in keeping with Data Protection protocols where only the relevant information will be made available.
The new National Vetting Bureau will establish a database consisting of a register of;
- relevant organisations
- specified information
- vetted persons
In terms of what to do about current employees, section 21 deals with this, and employees who would not have previously been subject to vetting but are under the new act must be retrospectively vetted, and an application must be made immediately to the National Vetting Bureau. The Act will have a definite impact on companies and section 27 of the Act outlines criminal sanctions for failing to properly vet employees to include fines of up to €10,000 and/or imprisonment for a term of up to 5 years.
It is advisable for employers to get polices together in relation to this and ensure that their recruitment procedures are in line with this.
