§1 A vetting application must always be specific about the legal basis for the application, i.e. the form of access to children which is a necessary and regular component of the relevant work to be undertaken and the relevant organisation to which the application relates.
§2 Because a vetting application involves the transmission of personal data (see Data Protection), it may not be required of, or made by, an applicant in respect of any role which does not involve relevant work and a relevant organisation as defined in the Act.
§3 The Vetting Act definition of relevant work includes “any work or activity as a minister or priest or any other person engaged in the advancement of religious beliefs to children” (and vulnerable adults) “unless such work or activity is merely incidental to the advancement of religious beliefs to persons who are not children” (or vulnerable adults).
§4 Garda vetting, leading to the issuing of a vetting disclosure, is only conducted on the application of an approved “registered organisation” and not of individual persons or an unregistered organisation, even though the latter may be recognised as a relevant organisation.
§5 The activities of the Prelature in Ireland include relevant work as defined, and it has an affiliate registration with the GNVB which permits it to receive vetting disclosures in respect of prospective employees or volunteers on foot of vetting applications, provided they are made via an approved registered organisation. Accordingly, the Prelature has a service level agreement with an approved registered organisation – the Dublin City Volunteer Centre – to forward applictions to the GNVB and to receive vetting disclosures on its behalf.
The processing of making an application for a Garda vetting disclosure involves the transmission of personal data, such as name, email address, current address, historical addresses and personal identification information such as passport or driver’s licence.
In Ireland, the Data Protection Act 2018 has set the age of digital consent at 16. This means that if an applicant is under 16, then consent must be given or authorised by the child’s parents or guardians.
The Prelature is responsible for the safe transmission and storage of personal information in relation to applications for a Garda vetting disclosure for “relevant work” in the Prelature, and for making such information available for inspection or review by the person concerned.
The Prelature uses Google Drive with encrypted folders as a platform for handling personal information, for making personal folders available to the individual concerned and for sharing vetting and safeguarding guides and other relevant information with vetting applicants.
The email address you provide is an important element in the volunteer registration and vetting system and in principle it should not be changed.
In order to exchange personal data securely with our volunteer registration system (which is stored on Google Drive) during the vetting process, you will also need to have a personal Google Drive account. It makes sense therefore to provide a current email address linked to Google Drive, to ensure that you can receive and respond to relevant emails promptly.
Google Drive is a free cloud storage facility which comes with the standard Google account. Many vetting applicants will already have a personal Google account (e.g. an email address such as another@gmail.com) on their smartphone or computer, and so will already have Google Drive.
If you don’t already have a Google account, you may either –
Link your existing email address (e.g., another@mycompany.org or example@hotmail.com) to a new Google account,
OR
Create a new Google account, with a new email address (see Google account creation).
In either case, you should use the Google Drive of that email account for the purposes of the vetting application and to ensure the privacy of personal data shared with the Garda Vetting Officer (GVO) of the Prelature in Ireland.
When you have chosen an email address to use in your vetting application (and for other safeguarding correspondence with the Prelature) and checked that it has access to Google Drive, you can initiate the vetting application process by completing an online volunteer registration form for the Prelature (using that email address in the form).
Unless the Prelature already has a current vetting disclosure for you, or the role you fulfill does not require vetting, you will receive a Vetting Invitation form (NVB1) for the Prelature. This form requests your full name, current address and mobile number (it may come pre-filled with information you have already submitted in the Registration Form) and asks you to confirm that your application is in respect of the role of giving Christian formation to minors on behalf of the Prelature. This is the only statutory "role being vetted for" which is relevant to the mission of the Prelature, and is as follows:
"Any work or activity as a minister or priest or any other person engaged in the advancement of any religious beliefs to children unless such work or activity is merely incidental to the advancement of religious beliefs to persons who are not children." Schedule 1, Part 1, section 7, National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012, as amended.
This role includes giving Christian formation to minors in the context of spiritual guidance, sacramental confession, retreats, recollections, circles and other talks of formation. It does not include other aspects of activities for young people.
Where you are also involved in such other activities, it is the responsibility of the relevant entity (e.g. club, school) to arrange the appropriate role vetting. If you have several distinct roles with young people on a regular basis, you may have to be vetted both by the Prelature and by the other entity. There is provision in Section 12 (3A) of the Acts for avoiding duplication of vetting applications by agreements between entities, but only where the roles in question also involve a Part 1, section 7 activity.
On receipt of a valid email address (connected to your Google account), a shared folder will be added automatically to the “Shared with me” section of your Google Drive, linking directly to your personal data folder in the Prelature's safeguarding system. The name of the private folder will be a four-letter ID, in the format ZZZZ, based on the initials of your full name.
This folder will contain copies of any personal identification documents (e.g. passport, driving license) which are already in the GVO vetting file of the Prelature and any past addresses on file from previous vetting applications.
You can access, view and download the contents of your private folder online in a browser (or from a desktop computer if you have installed the Google Drive app).
You can’t alter the contents of the documents in the folder directly. If you notice an error that should be corrected or if you wish to modify the contents, please inform the GVO.
You will also receive an email with a link to download your customised Vetting Invitation form called "NVB-1".
This form is an invitation to you to begin the process of
making a guided application to the Garda National Vetting Bureau,
for a Disclosure to be made to the Prelature,
concerning the existence or non-existence of any criminal record or related information about you,
in Irish or Northern Irish police records.
Please note that the NVB require the form to be printed, completed by hand and signed, using a ball-point pen or equivalent. By ticking the consent box, signing and submitting this form (see section E below), you consent to and authorize the Prelature to obtain a statutory Disclosure from the National Vetting Bureau (NVB) on foot of the information you will later submit in an online application to the NVB.
The Prelature is required by the NVB to obtain from each applicant and to hold on file documentary evidence of your photo-identity and current address, to establish that we are vetting the correct person.
To establish your identity as a new applicant for vetting purposes, you must provide documentary evidence of the following:
PHOTO ID
PROOF OF CURRENT ADDRESS
This usually involves two documents, e.g., a current passport and a driver’s licence. It is essential that they include a passport-style photo ID and evidence of current address. Other possibilities are outlined in the NVB 100-point Identifier Check below. Please include the necessary ID documents when submitting the completed NVB-1 form.
If you have checked that adequate identification documents are already in your shared GVO folder (see no. 8 in Section C above), these will be used in the application. If one or more need to be updated, you will need to supplement them.
Any personal information on the ID documents used must match the information provided on the NVB-1 form.
There is no requirement on any individual to produce any specific document to prove their identity, provided they satisfy the photo ID and proof of current address requirements.
If a vetting subject is unable to provide sufficient proof of ID they can arrange to complete an affidavit witnessed by a Commissioner for Oaths.
An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by a person. It is a document that sets out in paragraph form the evidence that the witness wishes to give.
Affidavits are usually written and prepared by a solicitor or a barrister after having obtained all the necessary information from the witness. The wording used in the affidavit will depend on the circumstances of the case. Your solicitor can give you more information on the wording that will be used.
When the affidavit is ready, the witness must go before a Commissioner for Oaths. The Commissioner for Oaths will check that the person swearing the oath has read the affidavit and fully understands the contents. The person will be asked to raise the Bible and to repeat the words of the oath. If the witness does not wish to swear an oath on the Bible, he or she may make an affirmation. He or she will then sign the affidavit.
The Commissioner for Oaths will verify that the affidavit was properly sworn by completing a jurat on the affidavit.
~~~O~~~
The National Vetting Bureau is aware that establishing identity can be difficult for some people. In order to assist individuals and relevant organisations as they endeavour to establish the identity of vetting applicants, the following personal identification system may be utilised by individuals and relevant organisations to verify identity for vetting purposes.
The NVB 100 Point Check was developed using information from the Volunteering Australia 100 Point Identification Check and from research conducted on verification of identity at Irish banking institutions, utility companies and the National Driver License Service.
Identity Document scoresTo provide documentary evidence, please submit sufficient documents from the following list to achieve a combined score of at least 100.
A. If you are an adult, resident in Ireland:
Irish driving licence or learner permit
~ in the new credit card format 80
~ in the old paper format 40
Passport (from country of citizenship) 70
Irish certificate of naturalisation 50
Birth certificate 50
Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) card 50
National Identity Card for EU / EEA / Swiss citizens 50
Employment ID:
~ ID card issued by employer (with name and address) 35
~ ID card issued by employer (name only) 25
Letter from employer (within last two years)
~ Confirming name and address 35
P60, P45 or Payslip (with home address) 35
Utility bill e.g. gas, electricity, television, broadband (must be less than 6 months old. Printed online bills are acceptable. Mobile phone bills are not acceptable) 35
Public services card / social services card / medical card 25
~ with photograph 40
Bank / Building Society / Credit Union statement 35
Credit / debit cards / passbooks (only one per institution) 25
National age card (issued by An Garda Siochana) 25
Membership card
~ Club, union or trade, professional bodies 25
~ Educational institution 25
Correspondence
~ From an educational institution / SUSI / CAO 20
~ From an insurance company regarding an active policy 20
~ From a bank / credit union or government body or state agency 20
B. If you are a minor aged 16 or 17 years:
Birth certificate 100
Passport 100
Written statement by a principal officer confirming attendance at educational institution on a letter head of that institution 100
C. If you are a recent arrival in Ireland (less than 6 weeks):
Passport 100
D. If you are unable to achieve 100 points from the above lists:
Affidavit witnessed by a Commissioner for Oaths 100
E. Examples of what can’t be used:
Statements from store cards / catalogue companies 0
Mobile phone bills 0
Utility bills over 6 months old 0
Download and print your customised NVB-1 form from the email link (see no. 9, Section C above). Some boxes on the form may be filled in for you already (with your name, current address, email and mobile numbers) from your volunteer registration form or if your personal safeguarding folder contains this information from a previous vetting application.
Please check that these details are correct and if necessary amend the form (by hand) with any changes needed. Read the instructions on page 1 of the NVB-1 form and carefully complete the form on page 2, by hand with a ball-point pen or equivalent.
Please do not alter the "role being vetted for" on the form, as the correct designation is essential to the acceptance of the application, see no. 7, Section C above. If in doubt, contact the Garda Vetting Officer (GVO) for assistance.
When you are satisfied that the details on the form are correct, please:
Tick the consent box on the NVB-1 form,
Sign the form,
Photograph or scan the signed form,
Send the scan (and any scanned ID documents required) as attachments by email to the GVO (for faster processing),
Post the signed paper copy of the NVB-1 form (and of any ID documents required) to:
Garda Vetting Officer, Prelature of Opus Dei in Ireland, 6 Clare Street, Dublin D02 EF82.
The Vetting Application will be submitted on behalf of the Prelature of Opus Dei in Ireland (a ‘relevant organisation’) by the Dublin City Volunteer Centre, Unit 4, Whitefriars, Aungier Street, Dublin 2, D02 XT21, (a ‘registered organisation’), as a vetting process service provider authorised by the National Vetting Bureau. See also the Garda Vetting FAQ.
The Garda Vetting Officer of the Prelature will check your NVB-1 form and your ID documents and then submit these details through an online portal to the Dublin City Volunteer Centre (DCVC). If your application details are in order, the Liaison Person of the DCVC will forward the application request to the NVB and notify the GVO that your invitation is being processed. A further notification to the GVO will follow when the NVB accept the application and assign you an NVB application ID.
The NVB will send you an email to your registered email address, containing your NVB application ID and a personal link to the NVB website. Keep this ID number carefully until you have completed the application, as it is necessary for access to the secure online vetting application system of the NVB. If you lose or delete the original NVB email link, you can still access the NVB portal using your NVB application ID.
The online application (see NVB guide) usually takes between 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the number of addresses to be entered, provided you have prepared all of the information beforehand (e.g. a complete list of all your addresses with Eircodes or postal codes, your passport number etc.).
If you delay more than one hour (e.g., with the address list), the application may time-out when you try to submit it, for data protection reasons. You will then be returned to the initial screen and all the data you have entered will be lost! It makes sense therefore to prepare well all the information you will need beforehand, so that you can complete it in one session.
When you are ready to begin the vetting application online, click on the link on the email you have received from the NVB. This link will open your browser and bring you to the LOGIN screen of the NVB website. Because it is a personalised link, you will find that your NVB application ID has been automatically entered in the first box on the screen. You then enter your current email address and date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY) and press Enter in order to proceed.
NOTES:
You can make a trial run of the application, but the system will not save the information you enter unless you complete the entire application.
Likewise, you can close the browser, end your session and begin again at any stage, but please DON'T press the CANCEL button unless you really mean to, as this would imply that you wish to terminate your application and withdraw from the vetting process entirely. To renew your application, the GVO would have to start again and submit a new request via the DCVC for an Application ID.
There are FOUR stages in the online application, of which the second (entering all of your previous addresses) is the most time-consuming. Your personal information (taken from the NVB1 form) will be shown in the first stage and you will be asked to supply additional information, such as your country of birth, mother’s maiden name, any previous names, passport number etc.
You then proceed to enter your past addresses in the second stage. The basic idea is to enter addresses and years forming a continuous sequence, working from the present back to your year of birth. Your current address is already filled in and cannot be altered. It is the first link in the sequence.
You then enter the year in which you moved to your present address and work backwards from there. Click on the drop-down arrows to select the “From” and “To” years for each address. Enter the Eircode (or postcode for foreign addresses) in the special box below Line 5 on the form.
When you are satisfied that a particular address entry is complete, click the green “Add” button to include that entry to your list of recorded addresses.
Finally, after entering the address and year of your birthplace, you click “Next” to proceed to the Third Stage of the application (any criminal records). If the system does not respond, it probably means that you have left a gap in the sequence of years (see Notes below).
If you leave any gap in the sequence of years, the system will not allow you to complete the second stage of the application. Please make sure that the “From” year of each address is the SAME as the “To” year of the PREVIOUS address.
Overlapping years are accepted. You may enter the addresses in any sequence (the system will re-order them), provided that the completed list is continuous.
If you have incomplete information for a particular address, include whatever information you have available, e.g. townland, county etc.
If you omit an Eircode [use ‘n/a’ if the property no longer exists] for any Irish address, or a postcode for a Northern Irish address, the DCVC vetting service agency may send the whole application back to you to be repeated.
In the Third Stage of the online Application, you will be asked to declare any past criminal record. You then proceed to the final review stage.
In the Fourth (final) stage, you will be presented with a list of all the addresses and other information you have entered, with the option to print this before you finish the application.
Review the information presented in the final stage and if satisfied, click “Print”. If your computer has the option to “print to pdf” or equivalent, choose that option and save your data as a pdf file. Print a paper copy if you wish to keep a paper record. You can also print a paper copy of your application from the pdf file at a later stage if you wish.
Once you have printed the application, you can safely click the “Finish” button (which is irreversible), at which point you will be returned to the first screen.
It is recommended that you email a copy of the pdf file of the completed application to the GVO to be added to your private folder on Google Drive platform. This will ensure that you can find the information again on a future occasion, should the need arise.
Once you complete the online process, you will receive an email from the NVB to say that your online application will be reviewed for completeness by the DCVC service before it is formally processed by the NVB. You may be asked by the DCVC to re-do the application if it is found to be incomplete. You can track the progress of your application online, using the link provided in the NVB email (or by entering your ID).
Once your online application passes the DCVC completeness check, they will submit it to the NVB for the vetting procedure.
In the (unlikely) event that the NVB propose to include any “specified information” (e.g., about an inconclusive concern or suspicion in the past) in the disclosure, they will first notify the applicant and offer him or her the opportunity to make a submission in that regard. In the event of a dispute, an appeal may be lodged, or the applicant may withdraw from the process.
Once the statutory process has been completed (5-10 days on average), the NVB will notify the applicant that they have sent the disclosure to the DCVC vetting service, who will then send it by secure document transfer to the GVO of the Prelature.
In the great majority of cases, the disclosure is a “NIL / NIL” statement, meaning that there is no criminal record and no record of an unresolved suspicion or safeguarding concern on the files of the Gardaí. If the applicant has had a conviction (e.g. for a speeding offence), that will appear in the disclosure.
On receipt of the Vetting Disclosure from the National Vetting Bureau, the GVO will –
if it is a NIL/NIL disclosure, inform the applicant and the Regional Vicar accordingly, and forward a copy to the applicant,
if there is any conviction and/or specified information in the Disclosure, send it to the applicant, and
~ if the applicant appeals the disclosure, await the outcome, or
~ if there is no appeal, invite the applicant to comment on the disclosure, and refer the disclosure, with applicant’s comments, to the Regional Vicar to determine the suitability of the applicant for relevant work in the context of the apostolates of the Prelature.
The GVO will retain and securely file a copy of the disclosure in the private folder of the applicant on the Google Drive platform for as long as the applicant is engaged in relevant work, and for a reasonable period thereafter, in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy of the Prelature.
Thank you for taking the time and trouble to follow this Guide!
Garda Vetting Officer
