Garda Vetting

Garda Vetting is a  process by which the National Vetting Bureau (NVB) gives a statement (disclosure) on whether a person has any convictions – pending or completed – recorded against their name. It also discloses any specified information held about the vetting subject that is relevant to the role they are vetted for.

A private individual cannot apply to be vetted. Only organisations registered with the National Vetting Bureau can apply to have someone vetted.

Vetting is a legal requirement for any person who is carrying out relevant work as per Schedule 1 of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012.

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.

• Vetting is not required for persons who participate in relevant work 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.
• Vetting is not required for people who do not come in contact with children or vulnerable adults in the course of their work, even where the organisation is involved in relevant work (e.g. out of hours cleaner or caretaker in a school).

E-vetting is just the online version of an older paper-based vetting system. From the point where you, as a Relevant Organisation, supply the vetting candidate information to the Registered Organisation (Waterford Volunteer Centre) to the receipt of the vetting disclosure, the process is entirely online.

The Waterford Volunteer Centre uses e-vetting exclusively. Our Vetting Affiliates (organisations registered to us for the purpose of vetting) will be given access to our Vetting Invitation portal where they can upload information from NVB1 (vetting application) forms in minutes, avoiding the need for postal applications.

A Relevant Organisation is an organisation that works with children or vulnerable adults, and is required  to register with the National Vetting Bureau for the purposes of Garda Vetting.

Relevant work is defined in Schedule 1 of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012.  It is defined as any work or activities that involve access to or contact with children or vulnerable persons as a necessary and regular part of the role.

Under the Act a child is a person under the age of 18.

Under the Act  “vulnerable person” means a person, other than a child, who –

1. is suffering from a disorder of the mind, whether as a result of mental illness or dementia,
2. has an intellectual disability,
3. is suffering from a physical impairment, whether as a result of injury, illness or age, or
4. has a physical disability, which is of such a nature or degree –

1. as to restrict the capacity of the person to guard himself or herself against harm by another person, or
2. that results in the person requiring assistance with the activities of daily living including dressing, eating, walking, washing and bathing.

The vulnerability may be “temporary” e.g. person in need of emergency first aid.

Any organisation that wishes to apply to have employees or volunteers vetted must first be registered with the National Volunteer Bureau.

You can do this by emailing GNVB.Registration@garda.ie,  or writing to:

Registration Section,
National Vetting Bureau,
Racecourse road,
Thurles,
Co. Tipperary

Your letter should include the following:

• Name and business address of your organisation.
• Contact person (name, email and telephone) in the organisation.
• The nature of your business.

They will send you an application form. If your organisation is deemed eligible you will be given a registration number and will be referred to a Registered Organisation. This organisation will process your vetting applications (see more information about Registered Organisations below).

Before you can begin vetting we must ensure that you have nominated a Garda Vetting Officer (GVO).  This person will be responsible for submitting vetting applications via our online vetting portal. They will also be the person who receives vetting disclosures.

The GVO hey must undergo training in the Fundamentals of Garda Vetting, which takes approximately 1 – 1.5 hours.

A Registered Organisation is a gateway organisation to the Garda Vetting system.  It will have people who are registered Vetting Liaison Officers who can process vetting applications on your behalf. It will process applications on behalf of many organisations that are too small or have too few vetting candidates to be Registered Organisations in their own right.

When you receive a National Vetting Bureau registration number you will be advised which Registered Organisation you should contact. They will add you to their Vetting Affiliates list, which means you will be able to begin submitting candidates for vetting once all requirements are met.

Waterford Volunteer Centre is a Registered Organisation for the county of Waterford.

Before you can begin vetting:

• You should have a Garda Vetting Policy. We can provide a template to assist you with this.
• The designated Garda Vetting Officer and any vetting committee member involved in vetting must register and consent to a Service Level Agreement with the Waterford Volunteer Centre.

Once you are registered:

• You will use the NVB1 form to gather the candidate information required for the purposes of a vetting application.
• You will need an NVB3 form to gather the parent or guardian information if a vetting candidate is under 18.
• You will need to gather proofs of identity and address from the vetting candidates.

These documents containing sensitive personal information will need to be securely stored, along with the Garda Vetting disclosure, for the duration of the work or volunteering placement, and for a period after it.

All Designated Vetting Officers must participate in training in the Fundamentals of Garda Vetting. This training can be done online and will take between 1 and 1.5 hours to complete.

From the time a vetting application is uploaded to our e-vetting portal, it will take at least a week to 10 days for a disclosure to be returned. In most cases it will take longer than this as it depends on many factors, such as the responsiveness of applicants, the time taken to review the various stages, and the response times of the NVB.

If vetting candidates have lived overseas it can take considerably longer.

Yes. There is a small administration fee for Garda Vetting. This will be in your Service Level Agreement.