A Co Donegal woman who was denied a job because of Garda computer glitch is to take legal action.
The move comes after Justice Minister Alan Shatter admitted that criminal convictions were attributed to Lorraine McGinty which she did not have.
Ms McGinty, 32, was refused a job in a nursing home in West Donegal after a Garda vetting form claimed she had convictions for drug possession and a public order offence.
However, the Justice Minister has admitted that an administrative error within the Garda Pulse system was responsible for the false claims.
Ms McGinty, of The Cottages, Falcarragh, is now taking legal action against the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Attorney General.
“My reputation has been destroyed in a small community and a job which I was awarded was taken away from me.
“I feel that none of this was my fault and I want to ensure that it doesn’t happen again to anyone else,” she said.
Justice Minister Shatter was responding to a question put down in the Dail by Sinn Fein Justice spokesman Padraig Mac Lochlainn querying Ms McGinty’s case.
He admitted “I am informed by the Garda Authorities that checks conducted at the GCVU in respect of the application of the person concerned indicated a number of prosecutorial details in respect of her. Details of these prosecutions were disclosed to the Registered Organisation in question on the 25th January 2013.
“On receipt of correspondence questioning the veracity of this information, further enquiries were conducted by the GCVU.
“It was established that due to an administrative error on the Garda PULSE System, two court outcomes were incorrectly attributed to the person concerned.”
Following the discovery of the error an amended Garda Vetting Disclosure was issued to the organisation in question on the 15th May 2013 containing the correct details.
Minister Shatter added that Garda vetting is conducted by the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) and the unit processed approximately 328,000 vetting applications on behalf of these organisations in 2012.
Ms McGinty’s solicitor Patsy Gallagher confirmed he is initiating legal proceedings on his client’s behalf.
“In fairness to the Minister, he has admitted that this error was made by the Garda Pulse system.
“Nonetheless it cost Ms McGinty a job which she had secured and has also caused untold damage to her good reputation.
“We will be launching legal proceedings once we have assessed the situation,” he said.
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