The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 sets out the legal basis by which an organisation can and must Garda Vet their staff. The Act clarifies that any staff member carrying out ‘relevant work’ with children or vulnerable must be vetted prior to the commencement work be that on a employment or volunteering basis. The Act also creates offences and penalties for persons who fail to comply with its provisions. A full list of relevant work or activities can be obtained in Part 1 and 2 of Schedule 1 in the Act.
For any volunteer involving organisation to get their staff (volunteers, employees, etc.) vetted, the organisation must first apply to register with the Garda National Vetting Bureau (GNVB) . If you are an organisation working with children and/or vulnerable persons and are seeking registration for Garda Vetting in accordance with the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016, you can apply to register with the NVB in writing either by email to GNVB.Registration@garda.ie or by post to: Registration Section, National Vetting Bureau, Racecourse Road, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
Your email/letter should include the following specific and up to date information in order that the National Vetting Bureau can assess your request.
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- Name and business address of your organisation
- Contact person within the organisation
- An outline of your organisation’s services and activities.
Following receipt of your correspondence the National Vetting Bureau will contact you, they will issue your organisation with an application form. They will then consider your application and if approved you will be given a registration letter, containing a GNVB reference number and direct your organisation to an appropriate Garda Vetting Liaison Officer to accommodate the processing of your vetting needs .
It is important that organisations are aware that:
- The Act requires you to carry out vetting before you engage any employee or volunteer in relevant work.
- Vetting subjects need to be vetted for each organisation that they volunteer/work with.
- Vetting disclosures must be made available to vetting subjects; therefore you must retain a copy of the disclosure for the length of time that the volunteer or employee is with you.
- You must check, verify and keep proof of the vetting subjects’ identity on file.
- As set out in the Act – all youth leaders, coaches, trainers, religious leaders who work with groups of children, whether alone or accompanied by another adult, must be vetted.
