Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Question 100: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the length of time a conviction remains on a person's record with respect to applying for Garda vetting or clearance. [14737/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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There is currently no provision in Irish Law allowing for the expunging of a conviction acquired by a person. The only exception to the general situation relates to Section 258 of the Children Act 2001, which provides for non-disclosure of certain findings of guilt made in relation to persons under 18 years of age.

However, the Deputy may wish to note that drafting of a Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill 2012, which is included on the priority 'A' list of Government legislation is almost complete and I expect to be in a position to publish it shortly. The Bill will allow former offenders to withhold details of certain qualifying convictions once certain conditions have been met and an appropriate conviction free period has been completed. Convictions for sexual offences and offences reserved for trial by the Central Criminal Court (e.g. murder and rape) will be excluded from benefiting under the Bill, while persons applying for positions of employment involving the care of children and vulnerable adults will continue to have to disclose all past convictions.

The Deputy will be aware that the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) provides employment vetting for a large number of organisations in Ireland which are registered with the gardaí for this purpose and which employ persons in a full-time, part-time, voluntary or training capacity to work with children and/or vulnerable adults. The Garda vetting disclosures are issued to the registered organisations in respect of a particular post or employment in response to a written request and with the permission of the person who is the subject of that request. The primary purpose of the vetting scheme is the protection of children and vulnerable adults and that remains the priority.