Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth
Oberstown Children’s Detention Campus: Chairperson-Designate
Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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We should be moving into a preventative space.
When I was developing my spent convictions legislation, there was an area I could not do through that legislation. I will probably come to it as soon as the spent legislation makes its way through the Dáil. The area would have to be dealt with through children's legislation. I will ask Ms Yiasouma about this because of her expertise. I work with a number of men who took a life in their teens. They did not go on to reoffend and many of them came home to the community but, unlike other crimes, this conviction will not be quashed when they turn 18. These men have barely reached the age of culpability and yet, there is no special provision for that conviction to be removed from their record. Culpability is different when it comes to adult stuff, that is, if a person is in their 20s or 30s. Those convictions stay on their record. However, there has to be a special provision for kids who lack the understanding and maturity when they commit that act. A special provision is needed. What are Ms Yiasouma's thoughts on that?