Licensing Requirements for Contractors and Employees
What the exam tests
This domain examines the conditions a person or firm must satisfy before a PSA licence issues, and the ongoing duties that keep it valid. Expect questions on training, vetting, tax clearance, the fit and proper person test, producing a licence on demand, and what happens at renewal.
Employee and contractor criteria
- Individual applicants must be at least 18, hold a relevant QQI (formerly FETAC) Level 4 award for the category sought, be Garda vetted under the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012, and satisfy the fit and proper person test.
- Contractor applicants must additionally show tax clearance from Revenue, appropriate insurance cover, compliance with the relevant PSA standard, and that all staff they deploy hold individual licences.
- While working, an operative carries the licence and produces it on demand to a Garda or PSA inspector. Changes of name, address, employer or relevant convictions must be notified to the PSA.
- Working on an expired licence, or letting renewal lapse, is the same as working unlicensed.
Worked example
An applicant for a security guarding licence disclosed a theft conviction from nine years ago. Reasoning: a conviction is not an automatic bar. The PSA applies the fit and proper test, weighing the nature and gravity of the offence, how long ago it occurred, and evidence of rehabilitation and current reliability. Full, honest disclosure with supporting references helps; concealment, or a conviction discovered later, is treated far more seriously and can lead to refusal or revocation.
Mark-losing traps
- Equating Garda vetting with a PSA licence - vetting is one input, not the licence.
- Assuming any conviction is automatically disqualifying, or automatically harmless.
- Thinking training done for one category covers another.
- Overlooking tax clearance, which is a contractor-only requirement.