Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)

I wish to share time with Deputy Troy.

I welcome the cross-party support for the reintroduction of the Spent Convictions Bill 2011 which was first introduced in Private Members' Time by former Deputy Barry Andrews in 2007, with the Second Stage debate taking place in early 2008. Former Deputy Andrews is to be commended on his initiative in bringing forward this legislation under Private Members' time and in taking the initiative to bring forward a Bill which addressed the issue of spent convictions in respect of which there was, and continues to be, no system in this country. When introduced by former Deputy Andrews, the Bill received widespread support among the parties. I am glad it has continued in this vein.

I acknowledge the positive approach taken some weeks ago by Government to Fianna Fáil's agriculture motion, also taken in Private Members' time. It is hoped the Government will continue in that vein whenever positive motions are brought forward by the Opposition. Fianna Fáil intends to be constructive and to try to contribute in a meaningful fashion to the manner in which this House is run. It intends the same with regard to its approach to national policy.

A number of Deputies raised in their contributions the question of whether the threshold for spent convictions should be seven years or five years. This debate highlights the inadequacy of our current system, which provides no such threshold. It is hoped we will be able to devote more time to this issue on Committee Stage. The Bill provides that persons who have a conviction for minor offences do not have to disclose that conviction when seeking employment. It recognises that the most effective means of rehabilitation is through employment, thus allowing the person to reintegrate into his-her community and society. Employment is probably the best way of restoring a person's self esteem and enhancing his-her status among family, friends and the wider community. It has been shown many times that it considerably reduces the likelihood of reoffending.

Securing employment is an effective way of achieving the reintegration of convicted persons into society. This Bill also takes into account the wider interests of society, in particular the protection of vulnerable persons. The Bill also deals with convictions in respect of which disclosure will always be required, which is important. While what we are about is ensuring that people who have made minor mistakes get a second chance, we must at the same time ensure that we put in place safeguards to ensure the safety of those citizens who depend on others.

The Bill addresses a significant gap in our law. There is currently no system in place to deal with spent convictions, apart from the limited regime provided in respect of non-disclosure in section 258 of the Children's Act 2001. The Bill provides us with the means to put in place a structured system for non-disclosure of convictions. This will allow people to move on with their lives, having completed their term of imprisonment or paid their fines or dues to society. As the law stands, the possibility of those who have a conviction securing employment is diminished.

Indeed, it is taken into account by employers when it comes to giving out a job. The effect of the current situation is that a person who is over 18 when the offence was committed must carry with him or her the consequences of even a minor offence long after the debt to society has been repaid. This situation offends a view of what is proportionate, fair and reasonable.

If we consider the number captured by the Bill, more than 60% of sentences in Ireland are on average for a period of six months or less, thus the provision in the Bill will capture a very large section of people. While this does not mean we should give up on the other 40% in terms of rehabilitation, this measure will be available to those offenders who have short custodial sentences.

There is no doubt but that the recidivism rate in Ireland is high. The Bill does not pretend to address that but it certainly offers some level of hope to those who may make a mistake and be faced with the prospect of carrying it and having to declare it for the rest of their lives. The intention is that the Bill will be used by judges, probation officers and those working with ex-offenders, in particular by judges when taking into account what sentence to hand down to a person. When punishing an individual, they must know the threshold of six months for the conviction to become spent and the impact whatever sentence they hand down may have on the person's life. The Bill will be a useful measure which will allow a judge to advise an offender on conviction and sentence that there exists a facility through which he or she can restore himself or herself to society. Equally, it will be a useful measure for those working with offenders.

In general, detention must be a last resort in sentencing under our criminal justice system. The Probation Act is widely used by judges and the youth diversion programme is widely used by the Garda Síochána. However, we must begin to place more emphasis on restorative justice. This means that those in custody are not put there lightly. We do not like to detain people and will use this measure only as a means of last resort.

The rationale for this approach is clear in terms of the cost of our penal system, given it costs €91,000 to keep one prisoner in jail for one year. With that, we still have some of the highest recidivism rates internationally, with 27% of released prisoners serving a new prison sentence within one year and habitual criminality rates rising to 49% after four years. This shows the current practice is ineffective, wasteful of resources and brings more people into the criminal justice system than is necessary. These people could serve a sentence that is of value to society by way, for example, of community service rather than imposing yet further costs on the State.

The major objective of the Bill is to facilitate the rehabilitation of offenders. It is a worthy objective that benefits not only the individual concerned but also the communities in which they live. It is in the interests of society that we break the cycle of crime. There are many ways of doing that but securing steady, gainful employment has to be a key aspect. That the Bill introduces a method for people to decide when they are obliged to disclose convictions is a key aspect and will reduce the barriers to their re-entry to the workforce.

The effect of a conviction being regarded as spent is set out is section 4. Where a conviction is spent, the person will be treated as a person who has not committed, been charged with, prosecuted for, convicted of or sentenced for the offence in question. However, the Bill will not entail any deletion of the criminal records held by the Garda Síochána. The record will continue to exist and the Bill will merely specify those situations in which the details of that record are or are not to be disclosed. It will apply in cases where a sentence of imprisonment not exceeding six months or a fine or other penalty has been imposed. The Law Reform Commission report on spent convictions of 2007 gave significant and thorough examination to the sentence threshold and concluded, based on our national policy and practice, that a six-month threshold was appropriate in our circumstances.

The possibility of non-disclosure under the Bill will only arise after seven years has passed without a further conviction when a sentence of imprisonment had been imposed or after at least five years in other cases. The Law Reform Commission's report examined this issue carefully and recommended the periods now proposed. There is a view across the House that this is an issue to which we can give attention on Committee Stage and there is certainly merit to the arguments concerning the timescale for the application of spent convictions.

The Bill sets out a number of exclusions in terms both of offences and certain employments. In the case of offences, convictions for sexual offences must always be disclosed. Similarly, convictions for offences reserved for trial by the Central Criminal Court must always be disclosed. These offences include rape and serious sexual assaults, as well as murder. As regards excluded employments, the Bill provides it should always be necessary to declare convictions when seeking employment in specified areas of employment. Section 5(2) of the Bill contains a list of such areas. Apart from the excluded employments, the Bill requires full disclosure of all convictions in certain other specified instances. Previous convictions are to be disclosed at the sentencing stage in criminal proceedings. There are many other circumstances where disclosure may be required, including court proceedings relating to adoption and guardianship of children, as well as cases in which a court considers disclosure is necessary to ensure justice is done.

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