Garda Vetting Service

Information on Garda Vetting Service provided by Louth Volunteer CentreThe aim of this document is to distribute information regarding Garda vetting of volunteers and minimise confusion surrounding the service provided by An Garda Síochána.

As of April 29th 2016, a new Bill - The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012-2016 came into effect.

This act makes it mandatory for people working with children or vulnerable adults to be vetted by the Garda Síochána National Vetting Bureau.

Our Garda Vetting Training dates for 2024 are:

February 29th.
May 23rd.
August 29th.
November 21st.

All sessions are on zoom at 11am and last approx. 90mins.
Click here for expression of interest.

What is Garda Vetting?

Garda Vetting is the process by which a Garda Vetting Application Form is submitted to An Garda Síochána Vetting Office asking them to check if a person has any convictions and/or prosecutions, successful or not, pending or completed, recorded against their name.

Do my volunteers need to be Vetted?

Yes, only if they are undertaking Relevant Work.

Relevant Work is any work or activity which involves access to children or vulnerable adults. Workers include staff, volunteers and those on student placements working for a relevant organisation through which they have unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults. The act defines “relevant organisation” as one that employs or permits a person to carry out work or activities which mainly consist of them having access to, or contact with, children or vulnerable adults.

The work or activities where people working with children and vulnerable adult will require vetting include:

Childcare services – see also ‘Further information’ below
Schools
Hospitals and health services
Residential services or accommodation for children or vulnerable persons
Treatment, therapy or counselling services for children or vulnerable persons
Provision of leisure, sporting or physical activities to children or vulnerable persons
Promotion of religious beliefs

There will be a number of roles where you will have to carry out a risk assessment and decide if the position allows the person to build up a relationship of trust with a child or vulnerable adult.

Garda Vetting and Louth Volunteer Centre

Louth Volunteer Centre, as part of our commitment to supporting and promoting volunteering have introduced a Garda Vetting service for voluntary and community groups. All Volunteer Centres now act as an Authorised Signatory for Garda Vetting purposes for voluntary and community organisations that do not otherwise have access to an authorised signatory. Volunteer Ireland and member Volunteer Centres have developed a number of documents to ensure best practice in and assist organisations with Garda Vetting and an agreement on the service with the Garda Vetting Unit and Data Protection.

What is a Garda Vetting Liaison Person?

Formerly known as an Authorised Signatory, the Garda Vetting Liaison Person is the person who has completed the training supplied by the National Vetting Bureau and is authorised to act as the liaison between the organisation requesting vetting and the National Vetting Bureau.   Only individuals that have completed the training and are registered with the National Vetting Bureau are permitted to process Garda Vetting.

Will An Garda Síochána vet volunteers?

The Garda Vetting Bureau already provides a volunteer vetting service for most large community and voluntary organisations throughout the country via an ‘authorised signatory’ within that organisation. This means that a member of staff within that organisation has been trained to be the link between the Garda Vetting Bureau and the organisation. However, they do not currently have the resources to provide this service to smaller organisations. In response to this, the members of Volunteer Ireland have worked with the Garda Vetting Unit to train a designated staff member in each volunteer centre in each county to act as an Authorised Signatory between local voluntary and community organisations and the Garda Vetting unit.

What does this mean for your organisation?

If your organisation does not have access to an Authorised Signatory and you require Garda Vetting, Louth Volunteer Centre can process the vetting paperwork for your volunteers. This paperwork is then forwarded to the Garda Central Vetting Unit.

How does it work?

For details on the process in your area, please contact Louth Volunteer Centre. In general, to avail of this service:

Your organisation will be required to meet with/attend training about the Garda Vetting process with us.
Your organisation will be expected to have certain policies and procedures in place before commencing Garda Vetting, for example, confidentiality policy, data protection policy, Garda Vetting policy. Copies of generic polices can be obtained from your local volunteer centre.
Your organisation will be required to sign an agreement with your local volunteer centre giving them the authority to act on your behalf as an Liaison Person for Garda Vetting purposes.

Garda Vetting – a quick guide to the process

Louth Volunteer Centre will act as the Garda Vetting Liaison Person on behalf of your organisation.
Prior to commencing, Louth Volunteer Centre will give you copies of relevant information documents and forms and will meet with you to discuss your needs
Once your organisation has signed and returned the required forms, we will begin the process of Garda Vetting for you

Your organisation will be required to:

Give volunteers / potential volunteers a copy of the Garda Vetting form and explain how important it is to fill it in correctly.
Ensure that the volunteers identification has bee thoroughly checked. You must check and retain a copy of the vetting subject's photo ID and proof of address, along with their signed vetting inviter form.
Ensure the volunteer returns all individual Garda Vetting forms to you.
Check each form to ensure that it has been completed properly.
Submit the application online to the Garda Vetting Liaison Person, Louth Volunteer Centre, Bolton St, Drogheda.
We will then submit all forms to the National Vetting Bureau. Once the forms have been processed by the NVB and returned to the Volunteer Centre, we will notify your organisation of same in by email.
Copies of disclosures will be forwarded to you by email.

For more information on this service please contact karen@volunteerlouth.ie or telephone (041) 9809008. Please review our Garda Vetting Policy if you would like more details on our Garda Vetting Service.

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