Parliamentary Question addressed to the Minister for Justice and Equality

To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to introduce an e-vetting system; the speed with which it will cut the waiting times for persons on a community employment scheme awaiting Garda clearance; and if he will make a statement on the matter?

I am informed by the Garda authorities that an E-Vetting solution for the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) is being developed and this will facilitate the processing of applications in an e-format, thus significantly streamlining the current time-consuming process of managing all applications in a manual format.  It is not possible at this stage to estimate the precise impact on processing times for specific categories of applications but the project is being pursued as a priority and the initial phase of testing is due to take place in the fourth quarter of 2013. 

The Deputy will also appreciate that it is, of course, very important that the GCVU has the resources required to perform its roles effectively and I have given this matter particular attention.  In that regard I have been actively engaged with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Currently, there are approximately 140 whole-time equivalent staff assigned to the GCVU.  Furthermore, I have also recently received sanction for the redeployment of 40 additional staff to the Unit. This will bring the total number of staff in that service to a level which, when compared to the average staff allocation of 78 at the Unit during the past two and a half years, represents an increase of over 100%.