Garda clearance delay ‘not on’

THE delay in waiting for Garda clearance has been described as “not on” by a local councillor, with suggestions that university graduates looking for work could be used to clear the backlog.
At this month’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, Councillor Paul O’Shea called on the local authority to urge the Minister for Justice to reduce the waiting time for Garda clearance for people wanting to take up voluntary and paid work throughout Ennis and the county to the same waiting period as in Northern Ireland.
“People want to go to America and England and they have to have garda clearance but they could be waiting months.
“At a recent meeting of the County Development Board I heard of one councillor whose daughter applied last October and, up to last week, she hadn’t got anything. This is not on when they can do it in Northern Ireland within two to three weeks. We have thousands of graduates, can they not be brought in to help with the backlog. This is administration stuff, it’s not crime detection,” he said.
Mayor of Ennis, Councillor Michael Guilfoyle, told the meeting that he applied for Garda clearance five months ago and has not heard since about his application.
“There are gardaí who have retired and have experience in this, perhaps they could take this on in some form,” he suggested. He added that there could be issues with using university graduates, as the application form would contain personal information.
Councillor Peter Considine stated that at a previous Joint Policing Committee meeting it was stated that there was a nine-month to year-long delay in receiving clearance.
“It is a very tricky job and it has to be done very professionally and with absolute knowledge,” he said, adding that the Minister for Justice had given a commitment to bring the waiting time down to six weeks by the summer.
“It is unacceptable to have to wait nine months to a year but there should not be pressure put on to rush them. The people making these applications are dealing with vulnerable people,” he said.