Fine Gael has proposed that the Garda-operated Central Vetting Unit be expanded to allow for checks on school, health service and other staff with substantial unsupervised access to children.
In a policy document published yesterday by Fine Gael's education spokeswoman, Ms Olwyn Enright, the party says this unit should vet health board staff, teachers and other school personnel, and staff and volunteers working with charities and other bodies working with children.
It should hold information on those considered unsuitable to work with children, not just checking for criminal records but keeping a register of personal details of unsuitable people.
Currently, the party says, this unit applies only to the recruitment and selection of staff for children's residential centres and the health services. The change would "make it much harder for someone with malicious intent to gain access to children or to vulnerable adults through their work".
Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny said yesterday that "the State has a particular responsibility to take all reasonable steps to stop abuse happening".
He added: "Unfortunately, in the past, the State failed to come to the assistance of children who were the subject of abuse in residential institutions.
"Today, we must ensure that we take every reasonable step to ensure that the possibility of abuse happening, in any situation, is minimised."
He said the State's vetting systems "are in most cases non-existent, and in other areas are deeply and disturbingly inadequate". The Government must act on these Fine Gael proposals, he added.