Vetting

All Cycling Ireland members with direct responsibility for the supervision and safety of children and/or vulnerable adults, and those in a management role of these volunteers/workers will be required to partake of the vetting process by law. These positions are referred to as regulated activity positions .

Regulated activity positions include but not limited to:

- Associate Members* 

- Board Members*

- Coaches

- Safeguarding Officer

- Club Committees*

- Designated Persons

- Employees*

- Mechanics 

- Leaders

- Message Therapists

- Officials*

- Physiotherapists

- Regional Boards*

- Standing and Board Appointed Committee

- Team Managers

- Mechanics*

- Other personnel

 *Unless the positions highlighted above are responsible for one of the roles below on a regular basis then they would not be required to undergo a vetting or disclosure check. A Vetting or Disclosure check will be required where an individual undertakes relevant work or activities relating to children or vulnerable adults, where such involvement includes: 

- Coaching, Mentoring

- Teaching, training or instruction

- Care or supervision, including health care and relevant personal care

- Advice or guidance provided wholly or mainly for children relating to their physical, emotional or educational well-being

- Moderating a public electronic interactive communication service likely to be used wholly or mainly by children

- Driving a vehicle being used only for conveying children and carers or supervisors. 

Below are the 6 steps involved in obtaining a Garda Vetting disclosure.

Step 1

The vetting subject completes a Cycling Ireland 'e-Vetting Invitation & ID Validation Form'. This form is available here.

The applicant will then present their original ID's with photocopies to a validator. The validator must come from the organisation/club listed in Section 2. The Identity Document Validation Form section must be completed by the validator.  

The vetting subject then posts their e-Vetting Invitation form along with photocopies of the ID used to ‘Authorised Liaison, Cycling Ireland, Unit 5 Sport HQ 2, National Sports Campus, Snugborough Road, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15’. Please note, Cycling Ireland does not accept soft copies of this form.

Step 2

Cycling Ireland processes your form and inputs the information onto the National Vetting Bureau (NVB)online vetting service. The NVB will send the applicant a link via e-mail (corresponding to the email address provided in Step 1 of e-Vetting Invitation & ID Validation Form) inviting him/her to complete the online e-Vetting Application Form. This email will come from evetting.donotreply@garda.ie Do not reply to this email address. If you have any difficulties, please follow it up with our National Safeguarding Officer (safeguarding@cyclingireland.ie). The link will expire after 30 days. If uncompleted in this time frame, the subject will have to re-apply to Cycling Ireland to re-send the link.

Note: Incorrect forms or applications not meeting the requirements will be rejected and returned to sender for correction at this point.

Step 3

The vetting subject completes e-Vetting Application Form online.

Step 4

The Cycling Ireland Liaison Person reviews the Vetting Application Form and submits it to the National Vetting Bureau for processing.

Step 5

The National Vetting Bureau processes the application and forwards a vetting disclosure to the Cycling Ireland Liaison Person.

Step 6

Cycling Ireland reviews the vetting disclosure and as soon as is practicable provides a response to the vetting subject.

Note: The time taken to complete the vetting process is dependent on the prompt return of accurately completed forms. Please take the time to ensure that you have filled out your form correctly.

The National Vetting Bureau has restricted who can verify an applicant's ID documents. The Identity Document Validation Form section must be completed by the person validating your identity and proof of address documents from the organisation/club listed in Section 2. Garda are no longer permitted to verify the Garda Vetting forms. 

The applicant is required to present 2 forms of identification:

1 - Photo ID. A Passport and/or driver's license are the preferred forms of identification.

2 - Proof of Address. A utility bill, or a bank/building society/credit union statement, or correspondence from a government body are acceptable forms of proof of address. Mobile phone bills and Revolt are not permitted. It must be dated within the past 6 months, and the name on the proof of address must match the name on the application.  

At times, it may be necessary to vet persons under 18 years of age. However, it is essential to consider whether it is suitable for a person to work in a role of responsibility that necessitates a check before the age of 18.

Applicants under 18 years of age will require a Parental Consent Form in addition to their Garda e-Vetting Invitation and ID Validation Form. This can be accessed here.

ID Validation for under 18s

 Children under 18 may not have appropriate ID; therefore, the 100 point rule is allocated differently.

The ID requirements for a person under 18 years are available here.

Please note vetting cannot be conducted for persons under 16 years of age

A vetting non-disclosure or disclosure does not immediately qualify or disqualify a person from engaging with Cycling Ireland.

Garda Vetting results in a disclosure:

A conviction, prosecution or case pending will not necessarily bar an applicant for consideration for engagement. The following criteria will be considered;

      - The nature and number of any convictions

      - The frequency of any convictions

      - The post for which the person is seeking engagement

      - The self-disclosure of the conviction/case pending by the applicant

      - The time lapse since the conviction

      - A change in circumstances since convictions

Garda Vetting results in a non-disclosure:

Equally, the vetting process does not provide clearance for people to work with children and/or vulnerable adults; it must be perceived as merely a check to ensure that there is no known information that would mean the person is a risk to children / vulnerable adults and it should be seen as part of the recruitment process. Other factors will be taken into consideration when judging a candidate's eligibility for the role.

Disclosures of concern:

The Authorised Liaison will refer disclosures of concern to the Vetting Review Panel for further discussion. The Panel will consider and make recommendations with respect to vetting applications and returns referred to it by the Cycling Ireland Authorised Liaison. The Panel is appointed annually by the Cycling Ireland Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and shall consist of no less than 3 members (to include the National Safeguarding Officer and CEO). Minutes of all decisions/recommendations will be made and kept securely by Cycling Ireland. No documentation relating to the vetting process may be copied and/or retained by members of the panel except where identified as a requirement under Cycling Ireland procedures. Where appropriate decisions may be made or ratified by telephone or email.

Data Protection

Cycling Ireland complies with best practice regarding the secure storage, handling and use of the Vetting Bureau disclosures and personal vetting information as per Data Protection Policy and legal obligations under Data Protection Legislation. All information pertaining to the vetting process will be held in a manner consistent with this practice.

Cycling Ireland has a policy that members are to be re-vetted after 3 years – this may change where legislation requirements are amended.

Any individual may be re-vetted if information that would affect a decision concerning an individual’s suitability to work with children / vulnerable adults comes to the attention of a Club, Region or member of Cycling Ireland. 

We kindly ask that all vetted staff/volunteers inform Cycling Ireland should they become subject to a criminal investigation during the course of their involvement with the organisation.

No, these changes do not affect the Access NI process. The Access NI process is also carried out online, however.

For more information, please view the Cycling Ulster Safeguarding webpage or visit the NI Direct Government Services website.