Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter TD will attend the meeting of the Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality tomorrow, 17th October, 2012 for the Committee stage of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012.
The Bill will provide a statutory basis for the existing procedures whereby the Garda criminal records database is used to vet persons applying for employment working with children or vulnerable adults. The Bill will also create offences and penalties for persons who fail to comply with its provisions.
Committee Chairman David Stanton, TD, said: “Our Committee has made an important contribution to the progress of this Bill through the legislative process. When the Heads of the Bill were first published last year, we invited submissions from, and met with, groups and organisations dealing with the provision of various services to children and vulnerable adults to get their views on the legislation before it was published. Their observations were included in a report forwarded to the Minister. Tomorrow, the Minister will come before the Committee where the Bill as published will be examined in detail. At this stage, the Bill will receive detailed consideration and will give members the opportunity to propose and discuss any amendments to this important piece of legislation.