385. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the reason the Garda vetting process does not allow for Northern Ireland to be selected as a birthplace, given Northern Ireland is recognised as an identity in the Northern Ireland census; whether he will change it for persons who do not consider themselves as primarily Irish or British but Northern Irish; whether this has changed since the introduction of the ECRIS (European Criminal Records Information System); and whether he considers it acceptable that 20 additional days are required in the vetting process for people who include an address for Northern Ireland. [67898/26]

The Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána under section 33 of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024. Accordingly, the operation of the Garda vetting system by the Garda National Vetting Bureau (GNVB), including processing procedures and system functionality, is an operational matter for the Garda Commissioner and the GNVB.

Under the Good Friday Agreement, persons born in Northern Ireland have the right to identify as British, Irish, or both. Accordingly, I am advised by the Garda authorities that when completing a vetting application, an individual born in Northern Ireland may select either Ireland or the United Kingdom (UK) in response to the birthplace question, and either option will be accepted.

I am further informed that the Garda National Vetting Bureau (GNVB) use the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) list of country names. The ISO standard-setting process defers to the United Nations (UN) Terminology Bulletin for country and territory names. The GNVB uses this internationally recognised standard. Northern Ireland is not recognised as an independent entity on this list.

The introduction of the ECRIS (European Criminal Records Information System) has not impacted on the birthplace field on a vetting application.

In relation to processing times, the service level agreement between EU member States for ECRIS checks is 10 days, however through the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) signed on 30 December 2020, the UK agreed a 20-day service level agreement with the EU for checks. As Northern Ireland addresses are in the UK, checks through ECRIS can take up to 20 days in respect of these addresses.  These timelines are outside the control of the GNVB.