Breen welcomes vetting proposal

PEOPLE who pose no threat to children or vulnerable people can now appeal a vetting disclosure for an offence, following a new provision in the National Bureau Vetting Bill, according to a local deputy.

 

Deputy Pat Breen has praised Justice Minister Alan Shatter for taking on board his suggestion that an independent adjudicator be appointed in cases where people who posed no threat to children or vulnerable persons, wished to appeal a vetting disclosure.

Speaking during a Dáil debate on the Vetting Bill 2012, Deputy Breen cited the case of a Clare constituent who was convicted of drink-driving a number of years ago and had his licence endorsed.
“While he has had a clean licence for four years or more, he is consistently refused a job as a bus driver because this conviction is disclosed on his vetting form. He feels strongly that he has been stigmatised for life for one mistake in his past.

“For insurance purposes, a person is not penalised if he or she has had a clean licence for five years or more. This man has a clean licence for a number of years and poses no direct threat to children; he should be given a second chance.

“It is up to the employer to determine whether the information received on a person’s vetting form prohibits him or her from employing that person. However, many people experience the same problem as my constituent in that once a conviction is made known on their form, they find it very difficult to get work,” he said.

The inclusion of the appeals process will facilitate people who feel they have a genuine case to appeal to an independent arbitrator. It will then be up to the arbitrator to determine whether the information provided by the central bureau is relevant.

Welcoming the deployment of 15 former staff at the Department of Agriculture in Ennis to a sub-office of the Garda vetting unit in Thurles, Deputy Breen had expressed concern that the passage of this Bill would place a further burden on the resources of the Garda Siochána’s Thurles office, given that it is already under pressure due to the volume of vetting applications it has to process at peak periods.

Deputy Breen cited the experience of a young man who was offered a job but the delay in processing his vetting ­application left him worried he would lose the job offer as a result of the wait.”  
He told the Dáil that many others are experiencing similar delays.

He stated the introduction of The National Bureau Vetting Bill, together with the Criminal Justice Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons Bill 2012, The Children’s First Bill and the forthcoming Children’s Referendum and Adoption Bill, are a clear statement of the importance the Government places on safeguarding children and vulnerable persons.

He said this action is “in stark contrast to the Fianna Fail Party’s record” as they had “failed to introduce promised legislation on vetting, even after the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children recommended in September 2008 that such legislation be published no later than December 2008”.