Garda Vetting is the Law
“Under the terms of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts, 2012-2016 (“the Acts”), all persons who are employed in positions where they have regular access to children and vulnerable persons must be vetted by the National Vetting Bureau. Section 21 of the Acts provides that it is an offence for an employer to employ a person who works with children or vulnerable persons where an application for vetting has not been submitted to the National Vetting Bureau for that person by 31 December 2017.”
What You Need to Do:
Step 1. Complete the following forms,
- Form NVB 1 – Vetting Invitation Form
- Form NVB 3 – Parent-Guardian Consent Form. 16 & 17 year olds require parental permission to be Garda Vetted and should complete this form.
Please note that only forms dated June 2025 (or later) can be accepted for the processing of Garda Vetting Applications.
Step 2. Present the completed forms along with proof of ID and Address (original documents) to a trained Validation Officer. The Validation Officer must verify your documents in person, and must have received training from Volleyball Ireland in the role.
Step 3. All applications must be delivered or posted to the Volleyball Ireland Office, whose address is:
Authorised Liaison,
Volleyball Ireland
Unit 1, Sport Ireland HQ2,
Sport Ireland Campus,
Snugborough Road, Blanchardstown,
Dublin, D15 P76N
Step 4. Assuming the application has been correctly submitted, the application can be submitted to the National Vetting Bureau (NVB) portal.
Step 5. The applicant will receive an email from the Vetting Bureau, inviting them to complete their application online.
Responsibility of the Validation Officer
The Validation Officer is an individual of good standing within the Club (e.g usually the President, Chair, Secretary, Treasurer etc) who is responsible for:
- Checking the identification documents match that of the person and address provided in Form 1, and meet the requirements laid out for accepted documents.
- Completing the NVB 1 Form checklist accurately.
Click here for guidelines.
A list of all currently trained validators can found here. All clubs have been asked to put their validator(s) forward for training, so we expect this list to grow in due course.
What Happens Next?
Fully completed applications will be processed by Volleyball Ireland’s Liaison Person. The applicant will then receive a link via email from the National Vetting Bureau to complete*. Once this is complete and the Liaison Person has verified it, it is submitted to the NVB to conduct background checks. Once these checks have been completed a disclosure is sent to the Liaison Person to review. If there are no concerns within the disclosure document a clearance letter will be issued to the applicant.
*Note that the email from the NVB is timebound and expires after a month if unanswered. If the applicant does not respond to the NVB email within one month, the application expires.
Garda Vetting is only one aspect to safeguard your club. Ensure volunteers undergo Safeguarding training, in house club safety training and the club has a safe recruitment policy.
With immediate effect, referees are no longer required to complete a Safeguarding 1 course or complete a GV application. However, any referees who are mostly refereeing at school or youth level are encouraged to do so.
Please note, Licences are only valid if coaches (who coach juniors) have up-to-date Garda Vetting and Safeguarding credentials. If either or both of these credentials are due to expire during a season it is the responsibility of the individual to ensure they are renewed in a timely manner. Furthermore, any applicant who is waiting for the completion of the Garda Vetting process cannot undertake their coaching work with juniors in the interim.
Notes for Applicants:
If you wish to apply for GV clearance, please be aware of the following important points:
1 – Please read the guidance notes on the front of NVB Form 1 – these notes will answer most of the questions you will have.
2 -Please ensure your application is validated in person by a trained validator (list above of trained validators).
3 – Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts to getting a GV clearance, and any errors, omissions or inconsistencies on the application forms will delay the process.
Many thanks for your patience.
Click here to view Volleyball Ireland’s Garda Vetting Policy.
For any questions or further information contact [email protected]