Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)

I support this Bill which is both welcome and timely. In reality, such legislation should have been passed years ago by this House in order to give people a second chance by expunging their records. I welcome the fact that the Government has accepted the Bill and that it can be amended on Committee Stage. However, the six month sentence period for spent convictions is too short and conflicts with the Community Service Orders Act passed by the Dáil some weeks ago. It should be increased to 12 months at least, with consideration given to extending it to two or two and a half years.

The Bill contains a list of excluded employments for which it will still be necessary to declare a conviction. I estimate that every public sector job is excluded under this Bill, so there are approximately 500,000 jobs for which people with previous convictions could not apply. More thought needs to be put into the type of exclusions listed and where they should apply. For example, there is no reason why somebody who had a public order conviction should be excluded from being an accountant. Therefore more thought should be put into the proposed exclusions and what jobs they may relate to. That matter should be given serious consideration in preparation for Committee Stage.

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