Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Sometimes, we look at employment versus unemployment but there is also an issue about what jobs people are being pushed towards because of spent convictions. It is also about the type of employment, in particular if one is a young man from a working class community. We received many representations from young men who wanted to join the Army but who were excluded because of one minor offence that came back in the Garda vetting process. They were then pushed towards lower paid, low-skill jobs whereas they would have preferred to progress in very different directions but were prohibited. It is not only about whether they are in employment but about the nature of the employment they are forced into, which reinforces inequality. In low-skill jobs, they live closer to consistent poverty than if they had different opportunities and the type of employment they could gain.

The employment aspect is obviously an important one for rehabilitation, but spent convictions also impact on life within the community. If one wants to go on the summer project with one’s child, one is Garda vetted. If one wants to volunteer with one’s son or daughter’s GAA team, one is vetted. All these other spaces in which a family integrates into the community can be denied to a person because he or she has to be Garda vetted. Vetting involves a blanket approach. It is not just looking at sexual offences or offences that would require one to consider whether a person could go on a kids' summer project. If a drug offence or a minor shoplifting offence comes up, one is excluded from being part of community life with one's family and that has a negative impact on recidivism.