Garda vetting rule is causing problems at Wexford schools
RECENTLY INTRODUCED extensive vetting procedures are causing problems for Wexford schools, with Transition Year students, who are at school themselves, among those who have to be vetted before they can be allowed access to work with young children.
And teachers too are feeling the weight of the legislation, with those shared by two schools having to go through Garda vetting at the behest of each school they work with, unless they already have new-style digital clearance.
Under the Children and Vulnerable Persons Acts 2012-2016, which came into force in April, it is mandatory for people working with children or vulnerable adults to be vetted by the Garda Síochána National Vetting Bureau.
Any person whose work or activity involves access to children or vulnerable adults must be vetted. Workers include staff, volunteers and those on student placements working for a relevant organisation through which they have unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults.
CBS Primary School principal Jos Furlong said the new rules had ‘caused some difficulties for anyone coming to work in the school, even in a voluntary capacity, including those involved with the choir and TY students,’ he said.
‘We have a TY student who is more than 16 and he can’t start his work experience placement as he is still waiting for his vetting. We had a Resource teacher with a shared appointment who was due to start on 1st September and she was a week late starting because her vetting was not in line with the new legislation.
‘ The teacher had been vetted previously but because she was changing schools the vetting process had to start again,’ said Mr Furlong.
Another case cited was that of an education professional who had worked as a teacher all of her life and who now required vetting before being allowed to do voluntary work at a local school.
‘ The whole thing is based on the protection of children and I fully understand how important that is’ said Mr Furlong. ‘And it is right that everybody who works at the school should be vetted, but it has had an impact and many teachers and Special Needs Assistants, Transition Year and College of Education students probably didn’t realise the impact it was going to have.’