Garda Vetting Update – Disclosures, Re-vetting, Police Vetting

Garda Vetting Disclosures

What should you do when you receive a disclosure for a potential employee?
A disclosure is a completed Garda vetting application. Members and staff are alarmed when they hear the word ‘disclosure’, however it is simply the terminology used by the National Vetting Bureau, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is anything to disclose! The Garda vetting disclosure that is sent regarding an applicant is in both Irish and English.

When an employer/organisation receives a disclosure for an applicant, you need to download it and save it in a secure file on a computer (password protected file at the very least) and print it out to file in the employee record in a secure location.

You can then shred the copy of the applicants address, however you do need to keep the photo ID for the employee on file.

Service record retention
All documents and records about references and Garda/Police vetting are kept for 5 years from the date each person started working in the service. This includes current staff and staff who are no longer working in the service. 

Click here for more

Police Vetting

All staff in early years settings need to be Garda Vetted prior to commencing employment and Police Vetting is also required for people who have lived in a state or country outside of Ireland for more than 6 consecutive months. The Garda Vetting that we process in Early Childhood Ireland only covers addresses in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. 

If you hire an employee from another country or you are hiring an Irish employee who has resided in countries outside of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland for a period of 6 months or more, it is mandatory for them to obtain a Police Clearance Certificate from those countries stating that they have no convictions recorded against them while residing there. This should all be done PRIOR to the person commencing employment in the childcare service.

We have some useful links and more information on overseas police clearance here

Re-Vetting – Renewing your Garda Vetting every 3 years

The Early Years Quality and Regulatory Framework and best practice recommends that you have your employees re-vetted every three years. The re-vetting process is the same as the Garda vetting process and is a free service for all ECI members.

For more information on Garda vetting, please click here

As always you can contact us on 01 405 7102 if you require any clarification or assistance.