Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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We have made it clear from the start that this legislation is aimed at the person who has made a mistake, perhaps in his or her youth, and now wants to get on with life. We all know of such stories. It is clear this is not a charter for criminality and a line must be drawn somewhere. The line drawn is as per the two-conviction limit and is based on the premise that people deserve a second or third chance. The Minister, Deputy Shatter, introduced an amendment in the Seanad that will allow a person with a number of convictions to have them all deemed spent, provided they relate to two incidents. The people we are trying to assist are genuine, something I believe all of us in this room accept, and are not career criminals. Few people would suggest that the scheme should be opened further and I do not believe anybody present is suggesting that. The people spoken about during the debates on this Bill are decent people who have made one or two mistakes, probably in their youth. They want to move on and have no intention of coming to the attention of the authorities again.

The Deputy's amendment would provide no deterrence to criminality but instead would hold out the prospect that no matter how often a person offends, a day will come in the future when his or her convictions will be spent. I do not believe this is in the interests of either the offender or of society. We want people to stop committing crime; we do not want people re-offending. In so far as this Bill can assist in discouraging recidivism, the limit on the number of convictions that can become spent has a positive contribution to make to the rehabilitation and re-integration of qualifying persons.

I suggest that the Deputy revisits his proposal. The entire Bill shows how we can deal with this situation, collectively and politically.

None of us should see this as being open-ended. A line has to be drawn somewhere and I believe the two-conviction limit is a fair one.