Galway County Community Response Team has been informed by the Garda Vetting Bureau that all volunteers will need to be Garda Vetted specifically for COVID-19 Response Roles.

Your volunteers may have been vetted previously for other activities, but vetting has to be carried out for any new role that they get involved in. For example, a GAA club volunteer who has been vetted for under-age coaching must be revetted to volunteer in a COVID-19 Response Role. This is a new role, and every person volunteering in the role must be vetted for it, no matter how many times they have been vetted for other activities or other groups.

For example, the COVID-19 Response Role can involve calling to the houses of vulnerable people (maybe more than once to the same address), and the Garda Vetting Bureau have given clear direction on this. They have also said that they are prioritising these applications, so they should be completed quicker than normal (aprox. 2-3 days).

We appreciate that this may feel like additional red tape, but your group needs adhere to legislation and to prepare for what could be at least another few months of volunteering for the most vulnerable people in our area.  It is essential that your group, your volunteers and the people they are supporting are protected.

1. If your group or organisation already has access to a Garda Vetting Service (e.g. GAA clubs would use the GAA system), you need to use your existing system.
2. If your group already uses Galway Volunteer Centre’s vetting service, just vet as normal using the role title ‘Covid Community Response’.
3. If you don’t currently have access to a Garda Vetting system, or are an informal group, your volunteers can be vetted by Galway Volunteer Centre.  Galway Volunteer Centre will ask you to forward vetting application forms to your volunteers and will require them to submit proof of ID and address with the application.  Galway Volunteer Centre will manage the process and issues like confidentiality and data protection, so you don’t have to.

If you believe that you need to access Galway Volunteer Centre’s Vetting Service please complete the following query form https://www.getfeedback.com/r/fD14HNYN – and they will contact you to get everything set up.