Published
The Teaching Council works with the National Vetting Bureau (NVB), to ensure that all registered teachers are vetted.
From the 7th July 2025, the National Vetting Bureau (NVB), in line with the EU Directive 2011/93/EU, are introducing additional child protection checks with the other 26 EU member states and the UK, to strengthen the protection of children. These additional checks will only affect those who have resided in another EU state or the UK. While these additional checks strengthen child protection in the public interest, they will lead to increased vetting application turnaround timelines for those who have resided in another EU state or the UK.
Timelines for Stage 2 of the vetting process
Vetting involves a two-stage application process.
Stage 1 involves submitting an application to the Teaching Council for identity verification. There is no change to this stage of the process. Once Stage 1 is completed, applicants can proceed to Stage 2.
Stage 2 involves submitting a vetting application to the NVB.
The NVB processing times for vetting applications is an average of 14 working days, but timelines vary for each application as it depends on the necessary searches that the NVB must carry out as part of the process. The NVB are advising that the above changes will have the following impact on vetting application turnaround times:
- For applications requiring checks with an EU Country, allow for up to an additional 10 working days.
- For applications requiring checks with the UK, allow for up to an additional 20 working days.
The NVB have advised that these timelines are in line with established EU/UK policy and are outside the remit/control of the Garda NVB.
Please note that the Teaching Council as part of its own safeguarding measures, requires overseas police clearance to be submitted for any applicant who has spent a cumulative period of 12 months or more living outside of the Republic of Ireland after the age of 18.