Garda vetting

The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016 make vetting a legal requirement for relevant work with children or vulnerable persons. The Bureau, formerly the Garda Central Vetting Unit, checks for any criminal record or specified information about you. A criminal record here includes convictions inside or outside Ireland and any pending prosecutions. Vetting is done only on behalf of registered organisations, never for individuals on a personal basis, so you cannot order your own vetting.

Almost every clinical role involves relevant work. The HSE says it vets all potential new employees in relevant work, and you will not start until the process is complete. The law makes it an offence for an organisation to let someone do relevant work before it receives a vetting disclosure. Regulators also vet: CORU says some application types must complete eVetting as a requirement of registration, and the Medical Council publishes its own Garda vetting requirements.

1. The organisation sends you a vetting invitation form (NVB1). You complete it and provide proof of identity and address.
2. The organisation validates your identity and emails you a link to the online vetting application form. The link expires after 30 days, with a reminder after 21.
3. You complete the form online, including your full address history. If you have lived in another EU country or the UK for any period, you must say so.
4. The organisation submits it to the National Vetting Bureau, which makes its enquiries.
5. The disclosure goes to the organisation, which gives you a copy.

The Bureau makes its enquiries with An Garda Síochána and scheduled organisations, so employers also ask for checks from the countries where you lived. The HSE says that if you have lived outside the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland since your 16th birthday, you must provide police clearance for each country where you had an address for 6 months or more. Each certificate must be dated after you left, cover the whole time you lived there and confirm no convictions. For the USA it must come from the FBI, not a single state. The costs are yours, and an offer may be withdrawn if you cannot provide clearance in time.

• Timing. CORU says NVB vetting can take a number of weeks, and overseas certificates often take longer, so start early.
• Reusing a disclosure. CORU says it must receive the vetting report directly from the Bureau, so an employer's vetting does not count for registration.
• Gaps in your address history slow the check down.
• Not declaring minor offences. The HSE says you must disclose all convictions in Ireland and abroad, including driving and public order offences, except those spent under the Spent Convictions Act.

If the Bureau plans to disclose specified information, it must tell you in writing first and you can make a written submission.