Frequently Asked Questions

A vetting disclosure shall include particulars of the criminal record (if any) relating to the person, and a statement of the specified information (if any) relating to the person or a statement that there is no criminal record or specified information, in relation to the person.

The relevant organisation in accordance with the National Vetting Bureau Act shall, as soon as practicable, make available a copy of the vetting disclosure to the applicant.

The Applicant should outline in writing to the Liaison Person in the relevant organisation the exact basis of their dispute. The Liaison Person should submit the Applicant’s report to the National Vetting Bureau. Further checks will be carried out by the National Vetting Bureau who will correspond with the Liaison Person in course.

No. All decisions in respect of the suitability of applicants for positions in relevant organisations are the sole responsibility of the relevant organisation concerned. The National Vetting Bureau has no input into any decision made in any relevant organisation in respect of the suitability of an applicant for a position within such an organisation.

The Act states that a relevant organisation shall not permit any person to undertake relevant work or activities on behalf of the organisation unless the organisation receives a vetting disclosure from the National Vetting Bureau in respect of that person. The only exception to this is where relevant organisations have in place a joint agreement in writing in accordance with Section 12 (3A) of the Act.

Yes. The written consent of the vetting subject must be obtained and the request must be forwarded in writing to the National Vetting Bureau.

Specified information in relation to a person who is the subject of an application for a vetting disclosure means information concerning a finding or allegation of harm to another person received by the Bureau from An Garda Síochána or a scheduled organisation pursuant to section 19 of the Act. It is information that is considered to give rise to a bona fide concern that the vetting subject may harm, attempt to harm or put at risk a child or vulnerable person or both. If such information is going to be disclosed to a relevant organisation relating to one of their applicants, the Chief Bureau Officer must, in advance, notify the vetting subject of the intention to disclose the information.

Section 19 of the Act states that where, following an investigation, inquiry or regulatory process (howsoever described) in respect of a person, (including an investigation, inquiry or regulatory process initiated but not yet concluded before the commencement of this section) a scheduled organisation, has as a result of the investigation, inquiry or regulatory process, a bona fide concern that the person who is the subject of that investigation, inquiry or regulatory process, may—

1. harm any child or vulnerable person,
2. cause any child or vulnerable person to be harmed,
3. put any child or vulnerable person at risk of harm,
4. attempt to harm any child or vulnerable person, or
5. incite another person to harm any child or vulnerable person, the scheduled organisation shall, as soon as may be, for the purposes of providing specified information to the Bureau, notify the Bureau in writing of that concern and shall state the reasons for it.

The decision to disclose specified information requires the Chief Bureau Officer to believe that the information in question is of such a nature as to give rise to a bona fide concern that the vetting subject may harm, attempt to harm or put at risk of harm a child or vulnerable person.

Yes. The vetting subject shall be informed in writing by the Chief Bureau Officer of his or her intention to disclose specified information and shall furnish him or her with a summary of the specified information. The vetting subject shall also be informed that he or she may make a written submission in relation to the specified information concerned. A person who is aggrieved by a determination of the Chief Bureau Officer may, not later than 14 days after the date the notification of the determination is sent to the person, appeal to an appeals officer against that determination. A person may appeal to the high court from a determination of an appeal by an appeals officer on a point of law and the determination of the high court on such appeal shall be final and conclusive.

The applicant must manually complete and forward the Vetting Invitation Form to a relevant organisation and provide proof of identity. The relevant organisation confirms proof of identity and sends the applicant an Email with a link attached inviting him/her to complete the vetting application online.

They must provide their forename(s), surname, date of birth, Email address, contact number, job role, current address and sign and date the Invitation Form.

The relevant organisation provides the Invitation Form to the applicant.

The link will expire after 30 days. The applicant will then have to re-apply to the relevant organisation to resend the link.

Yes. A reminder Email is sent after 21 days if no reply has been received from the applicant.

No. The application goes to the relevant organisation. They will review the application and submit it to the National Vetting Bureau.

Yes. The applicant may click on the link received in the original Email from the relevant organisation. From here, they can go to the Track Application section to see the status of their application.

The vetting disclosure is issued to the relevant organisation. The relevant organisation in accordance with the National Vetting Bureau Act shall, as soon as practicable, make available a copy of the vetting disclosure to the applicant.

No. Relevant organisations that don’t sign up for eVetting will submit paper application forms to the National Vetting Bureau and vetting disclosures will be issued in writing and returned to the relevant organisation.

The applicant may complete a paper application form and send it to the relevant organisation who will enter the details onto the eVetting website and submit to the National Vetting Bureau.

No. Once a relevant organisation signs up for eVetting, all applications must be submitted online to the National Vetting Bureau.

You can access the Vetting website through the Internet on browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari. Vetting supports the latest versions of each of these browsers

• Internet Explorer (Versions 9-11)
• Latest Chrome
• Latest Firefox
• Latest Safari

To access Vetting for mobile web browsers, your mobile browser needs to fit a few minimum requirements.

First, make sure your browser is XHTML compliant. If you're not sure if it is, you can visit http://www.google.com/xhtml and perform a search. If it doesn't work, your browser may not be XHTML compliant.

You can contact your mobile service provider to check the following requirements:

• Your browser should have cookies enabled and your network should also allow cookies. The setting for cookies is usually located in your phone's browser settings.
• Your network should allow secure SSL traffic.
• Your mobile browser must have a URL length of 2000 bytes.
• Your mobile browser must allow redirects of 10.

Internet Explorer has a Compatibility View (or mode) that affects how some websites are displayed. The Vetting site may display incorrectly if Compatibility View is enabled for vetting.garda.ie. We suggest that you remove vetting.garda.ie from your list of sites that have Compatibility View enabled.

If you're seeing problems in how the Vetting website is displaying in your browser; it may be neccessary to clear your cache and cookies.

Review and follow the instructions provided by your browser:

• Google Chrome
• Windows Internet Explorer
• Mozilla Firefox
• Apple Safari

Details and alternatives

Effect of clearing cache and cookies: Keep in mind that clearing your cache and cookies erases your settings for websites. Here are some examples:

• If you opted to have your browser remember your username and password, it will be cleared from your browser's memory when you clear cache and cookies.
• The eVetting portal might load a little slower because all of the images and content pieces have to be loaded from scratch.

Recommended first step: If you're seeing problems in how webpages are displayed in your browser, we suggest first using your browser’s incognito or private browsing mode to see if the problem you're seeing is caused by something other than cache or cookies.

The Act will provide a legislative basis for the mandatory vetting of persons who wish to undertake certain work or activities relating to children or vulnerable persons or to provide certain services to children or vulnerable persons.

Any person who is carrying out work or activity, a necessary and regular part of which consists mainly of the person having access to, or contact with, children or vulnerable adults. A relevant organisation shall not permit any person to undertake relevant work or activities on behalf of the organisation unless the organisation receives a vetting disclosure from the National Vetting Bureau in respect of that person. A person who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence.

In the Act, a child is defined as a person under the age of 18 years.

A vulnerable person means a person, other than a child, who is suffering from a disorder of the mind, whether as a result of mental illness or dementia, has an intellectual disability, is suffering from a physical impairment, whether as a result of injury, illness or age, or has a physical disability, which is of such a nature or degree as to restrict the capacity of the person to guard himself or herself against harm by another person, or that results in the person requiring assistance with the activities of daily living including dressing, eating, walking, washing and bathing.

A relevant organisation means a person (including a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons) who employs, enters into a contract for services or permits any person to undertake relevant work or activities, a necessary and regular part of which consists mainly of the person having access to, or contact with, children or vulnerable adults. A relevant organisation shall not permit any person to undertake relevant work or activities on behalf of the organisation unless the organisation receives a vetting disclosure from the National Vetting Bureau in respect of that person. A person who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence.

A relevant organisation shall apply to the National Vetting Bureau to be registered in the register of relevant organisations in accordance with Section 8 of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016. A relevant organisation that, immediately before the commencement of this section, is registered with the Garda Central Vetting Unit shall, on such commencement, be deemed to be registered in the register of relevant organisations. An application shall specify the name and address of the relevant organisation and provide details of the relevant work or activities relating to children and/or vulnerable persons carried out by the organisation.

Any work or activities, which is carried out by a person, a necessary and regular part of which consists mainly of the person having access to, or contact with children or vulnerable persons. Details of relevant work or activities are outlined in part 1 and 2 of Schedule 1 of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016.

No. A relevant organisation shall not permit any person to undertake relevant work or activities on behalf of the organisation unless the organisation receives a vetting disclosure from the National Vetting Bureau in respect of that person. A person who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence.

The Act shall not apply to persons who assist on an occasional basis and for no commercial consideration. This would include persons who assist on an occasional basis at a school, sports or community event or activity other than where such assistance includes the coaching, mentoring, counselling, teaching or training of children or vulnerable persons.

Yes. Either the person, relevant organisation or both may be prosecuted. In proceedings for an offence under Section 12 of the Act it shall be a defence for the accused person to show that the accused person neither knew, nor could reasonably be expected to know, that the work or activity to which the employment, contract, permission or placement referred to constituted relevant work or activities.

A person or organisation guilty of an offence under section 8(9), 12(2), 16(4), 19(8), 20(3), 21(3) or 26 shall be liable - (a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both. A person guilty of an offence under section 24(6) shall be liable on summary conviction to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.

The Act shall not apply where a person gives assistance on an occasional basis at a school, sports or community event or activity. Each relevant organisation will need to assess the positions involved in accordance with the Act.

Yes. Section 12 (1) of the Act states that a relevant organisation shall not enter into a contract for services with any person for the provision by that person of services which constitute relevant work or activities unless the organisation receives a vetting disclosure from the Bureau in respect of that person.

Relevant organisations should satisfy themselves as to the identity of those applying for positions. International best practice recommends a minimum of two forms of identification should be produced, one of which should be photographic identification. These can include Passport, Driving Licence, and National Identity Card. Other forms of identification should be produced for the purpose of the verification of current address and may include recent utility bill (gas, telephone and electricity), Bank/Building Society/Credit Union statement and birth certificate. In the absence of this documentation, an applicant has the option of swearing an Affidavit /Affirmation before a Commissioner of Oaths to verify their identity. Please note there may be separate requirements by a Commissioner of Oaths in this regard.

The Act states that a relevant organisation shall not permit any person to undertake relevant work or activities on behalf of the organisation unless the organisation receives a vetting disclosure from the National Vetting Bureau in respect of that person. The only exception to this is where relevant organisations have in place a joint agreement in accordance with Section 12(3A) of the Act.

Retrospective vetting is referred to in Section 21 of the Act. The relevant organisation shall, where the person concerned has not previously been the subject of an application for vetting disclosure under the Act, not later than such period as may be prescribed by the Minister, make an application for vetting disclosure in respect of that person.

A relevant organisation that, following receipt of a vetting disclosure under the Act in respect of a person shall, after the expiration of such period as may be prescribed by the Minister make a further application for vetting disclosure in respect of that person.

This section provides that the Minister may make regulations to set a period of time within which all retrospective vetting must be complete. The Department of Justice and Equality will make such regulations after the commencement of the Act and has indicated the intention is to set a date of 31st December 2017 as the date by which retrospective vetting must be completed.

A relevant organisation that is registered in the register of relevant organisations shall, for the purposes of applying for and receiving vetting disclosures in accordance with the Act, nominate in writing a person (in the Act referred to as a “Liaison Person”) to be registered in the register of relevant organisations as the Liaison Person of the organisation. A person who, immediately before the commencement of Section 9 of the Act, is registered with the Garda Central Vetting Unit as an Authorised Signatory for an organisation shall, on such commencement of the Act, be deemed to be registered as a Liaison Person for the organisation in the register of relevant organisations. An application for a vetting disclosure in respect of an applicant shall be made by a Liaison Person for a relevant organisation.

In order to establish your identity for vetting purposes, an individual must provide documentary proof of each of the following:

• Valid Photographic ID to include name and date of birth
• Evidence of current address. (Statements from store cards/catalogue companies or Mobile phone bills are not acceptable)

Please note the following;

• Evidence of address provided must be dated within 6 months of the date of application
• The name on the photo ID must match the name on your proof of address.
• There is no requirement on any individual to produce any specific document to prove their identity.

The Garda National Vetting Bureau is aware that establishing identity can be difficult for some people. In order to assist individuals and relevant organisations as they endeavour to establish the identity of vetting applicants, the following 100 point check is an optional personal identification system which may be utilised by individuals and relevant organiations to verify identity for Vetting purposes.

When conducting Garda Vetting, organisations could require vetting subjects to present identification totalling 100 points to ensure they are checking the correct person. At least one form of photographic evidence must be gathered.

*This document was developed using information from the Volunteering Australia 100 Point Identification Check and from research conducted on verification of identity at Irish banking institutions, utility companies and the National Driver License Service.

**An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by a person. It is a document that sets out in paragraph form the evidence that the witness wishes to give. Affidavits are usually written and prepared by a solicitor or a barrister after having obtained all the necessary information from the witness. The wording used in the affidavit will depend on the circumstances of the case. Your solicitor can give you more information on the wording that will be used.

When the affidavit is ready, the witness must go before a Commissioner for Oaths. The Commissioner for Oaths will check that the person swearing the oath has read the affidavit and fully understands the contents. The person will be asked to raise the Bible and to repeat the words of the oath. If the witness does not wish to swear an oath on the Bible, he or she may make an affirmation. He or she will then sign the affidavit.

The Commissioner for Oaths will verify that the affidavit was properly sworn by completing a jurat on the affidavit.