Digitary FAQs for Schools/Employers

As set out in Section 12 of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016, it will be an offence for employers to employ a person unless they have received a vetting disclosure from the National Vetting Bureau in respect of that person prior to commencing the employment in question. Some limited exceptions to this requirement are set out in Department of Education and Skills (DES) Circular 0031/2016.

By obtaining a registered teacher’s vetting disclosure prior to commencing the employment of that teacher via the on-line solution, Digitary; a school employer will have fulfilled the requirements of Section 12 of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016.

Under Section 8 of the National Vetting Bureau Acts 2012 to 2016, the Teaching Council is the ‘relevant organisation’ acting on behalf of recognised school employers for the purposes of National Vetting Bureau vetting for teachers.

Digitary:

• is the on-line solution used by the Teaching Council to allow teachers view and share their vetting disclosure (vetting result document) electronically with current and prospective school employers
• replaces the Teaching Council’s vetting result letter which teachers were previously required to present to school employers

Vetting disclosures will be made available electronically by the Teaching Council through the Digitary solution. This enables school employers to fulfill the requirements of section 12 of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016.

School management authorities have been notified by way of DES Circular 0031/2016 that teacher vetting disclosures will be made available electronically by the Teaching Council.

The school/employer may

• contact the teacher to ensure that the correct email address was supplied and used
• request the teacher to share the document again.

Where, after a second sharing attempt there are still difficulties, the teacher must contact the Vetting Section of the Teaching Council to make alternative arrangements to share the disclosure with the school employer.

Email: vetting@teachingcouncil.ie

Phone +353 1 6517900 or LoCall 1890 224 224.

Yes, there is a facility to download the disclosure document and save it locally. At the top of the document screen a number of icons are displayed. Click on the second icon (as highlighted with the red circle in the screenshot below) and save accordingly. Having saved it locally the document can then be printed. As this is confidential information the school/employer should retain the documentation securely. Note: It is a requirement of DES Circular 0031/2016 that a school authority prints and retains a copy of the disclosure for its records.

A validity period for a vetting disclosure is not specified in the NVB Act.

NVB vetting disclosures will be made available to the school/employer via Digitary. Once the school/employer obtains this disclosure prior to commencing the employment, the requirement under Section 12 of the Act is met.

The school/employer should refer to Section 9 of DES Circular 0031/2016 in relation to whether the school should from a prudent practice perspective consider seeking an up to date disclosure in respect of a prospective teaching employee.

Yes, the school as the employer can seek an updated vetting disclosure if it considers that this is warranted from a prudent practice perspective. In such a case, the school will request the teacher to apply via the Teaching Council for an up to date disclosure.

Digitary will only display the most recent vetting disclosure.

If a teacher applies for an updated vetting disclosure, the updated disclosure will be uploaded to Digitary and will replace any previous disclosure.

Teaching Council – www.teachingcouncil.ie

Department of Education and Skills – www.education.ie

National Vetting Bureau – vetting.garda.ie

Further information on Digitary can be obtained at www.digitary.net

Digitary documents can only be created by officials of vetted institutions that have been Digitary-enabled. The process of issuing documents is subject to multi-factor authentication checks, including the possession of certain physical devices which are issued under strict conditions to institution officials. Once issued by the institution, official documents are protected from tampering and fabrication. These secure documents are made available to teachers through a secure online portal, where they can view the documents but not modify them in any way. Once accessed by the teacher, it is the teacher who controls who sees their documents through the use of the Digitary sharing facility.

Digitary documents contain long-lived Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) that comply with the strictest EU technical standards under the EU Digital Signature Directive 1999/EC/93. Digitary-issued documents contain signatures compliant with ETSI TS 101 903 and qualified digital certificates compliant with ETSI TS 101 456.