National Vetting Bureau Act 2012

Garda vetting, and what it does not do.

A legal requirement before anybody starts relevant work with children, and the single most over-relied-upon control in Irish safeguarding.

The obligation

A criminal offence to skip.

The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 makes it a criminal offence for an organisation to employ, contract, permit or place a person to undertake relevant work or activities with children without first receiving a vetting disclosure in respect of that person.

It applies to volunteers as much as to people who are paid, because the test is the nature of the work rather than whether somebody is paid for it.

Decide who needs it

Written into your policy, so the question is settled in advance rather than argued about each time somebody joins.

Vet before they start

The disclosure has to be received first. Starting somebody pending vetting is where organisations get into difficulty.

Record the decision

What was received, when, and who considered it.

Re-vet on a stated cycle

There is no statutory expiry, so your policy has to say what your cycle is.

The dangerous assumption

Vetting looks backwards.

A disclosure tells you what is on record about a person up to the day it was issued. It tells you nothing about the day after, and nothing at all about somebody who has never come to notice.

Most people who harm children have no record at the point they are recruited. An organisation that treats vetting as its safeguarding has one control, pointed at the past, and nothing watching the present — which is what supervision, a code of behaviour, a reporting route and trained people are for.

Answers

Questions we're asked most.

Who must be Garda vetted to work with children?

Anybody undertaking relevant work or activities with children or vulnerable persons. The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 makes it a criminal offence for an organisation to employ or permit a person to do that work without first receiving a vetting disclosure.

Does Garda vetting apply to volunteers?

Yes. The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 does not distinguish between paid staff and volunteers where the work itself is relevant work with children.

Do we need a written vetting policy?

It is one of the procedures a child safeguarding statement is expected to name. The policy sets out who in your organisation requires vetting and the procedure you follow, so the decision is not taken case by case.

How long does Garda vetting last?

There is no statutory expiry. Most organisations re-vet periodically — commonly every three years — and record the decision in their policy so it is applied consistently.

Can vetting be transferred between organisations?

Generally no. A disclosure is made to a specified relevant organisation for a specified role. Limited re-use is permitted in narrow circumstances, and it should not be assumed.

Is vetting the same as safeguarding?

No, and treating it as though it were is the commonest mistake. Vetting tells you what is on record about somebody up to the day of the disclosure. It tells you nothing about what happens afterwards, and most people who harm children have no record at the point they are recruited.

Who you would be working with

Fifteen years leading Ireland's national child protection unit.

Senior Investigating Officer with An Garda Síochána, leading three national units: the National Child Protection Unit, the Sexual Crime Management Unit and the Online Child Exploitation Unit. Ireland's National Expert to Interpol and Europol on child safeguarding.

Safeguarding policy developed with Tusla, the HSE and three government departments. M.Sc. in Child Protection and Welfare, Trinity College Dublin. More about Michael

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