IRELAND
The Sunday Times
Colin Coyle Published: 20 December 2015
PRIESTS will no longer have to undergo garda vetting unless they work with children or vulnerable people, following lobbying by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Under legislation introduced in 2012, anyone engaged in “work or activity as a minister or priest, or any other person engaged in the advancement of religious beliefs” had to be vetted by gardai.
In October, Teresa Devlin, chief executive of the board, met officials from the Department of Justice and requested a change to the provisions so that clergy would require garda checking only when “engaged in activities which consist mainly of working with children”.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.