How Bus Éireann Took Driver Vetting Online, With No Return to Paper

The Challenge

Bus Éireann was formed in 1987 as a subsidiary of CIÉ (Córas Iompair Éireann), Ireland's national public transport provider. It provides coach and bus services throughout Ireland. With a team of 2,500 people, it operates a fleet of 1,200 coaches and buses, of which 500 are directly allocated to school transport. In addition, over 4,000 contractor vehicles are employed by Bus Éireann to provide school transport services daily.

Under the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016, vetting of personnel who work with children and vulnerable adults is required by law. Therefore, all drivers of coaches, buses and taxis providing school transport services for Bus Éireann must be vetted and approved.

For many years, Bus Éireann was challenged by a paper-based vetting application process that was manual and time-consuming. Keen to improve this process, Bus Éireann sought out a more efficient, digital solution.

The Solution

Following much research and a demonstration of how the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) had streamlined its vetting process with FlowForma Process Automation, Bus Éireann approached the FlowForma team to understand how it might use FlowForma Process Automation to automate its own vetting process.

Within months, Bus Éireann had deployed the no-code FlowForma Process Automation tool, and it successfully launched its online vetting process in early 2018, using FlowForma Public Accessible Forms to publish an e-Vetting form on the Bus Éireann website.

Drivers applying for vetting can now submit personal information online, such as their driving licence and medical fitness certificate, and answer pre-screening questions via a secure link from the Bus Éireann website. Once the applicant submits this information, Bus Éireann is automatically notified and can begin the initial screening. With the initial background checks out of the way, the request is moved through an extensive screening process by the Irish police force (An Garda Síochána). The results are then sent to the applicant once a final decision has been made.

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By purchasing the FlowForma Public Accessible Forms functionality, Bus Éireann quickly built an e-Vetting form accessible to the public via the Bus Éireann website. This form sits on FlowForma's own Microsoft Azure environment enabling anonymous access from the public.

The Outcome

With the online vetting process, Bus Éireann has seen a vast improvement in the turnaround of applicant vetting. The business now has clear visibility at each step of the process, and all the data continues to be kept in a secure and controlled manner.

Hundreds of applications were already coming in soon after launch. “It is true to say the staff in the Vetting Office are delighted, there will be no return to paper!” said Debbie O'Neill, Vetting Officer, Bus Éireann.

Having seen the success of its first online vetting process, Bus Éireann intends to bring more processes online in the future.

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We have the best online vetting system around now.