Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill and I thank Deputy Calleary for bringing it to the House. I welcome the fact the Government, while not embracing the Bill fully, has given a clear indication it will bring forward a similar Bill in the not too distant future. I hope the Government will remain true to its word as it is important that the reintroduction of this Bill is not put on the long finger. We have heard during the debate various Members from all sides of the House outlining the various reasons this Bill should be prioritised and brought before the House. I hope we will not be waiting for a long time to see it before us again.

Is there one of us, or one of our families, who could put a hand on their heart and say they have never made a mistake in the past? Is there any Member here who can claim to be perfect? There is not. The current situation is that persons who were more than 18 years of age when they committed an offence must carry that offence for the rest of their lives. It does not matter how minor the offence was or whether they have repaid their debt to society. That situation is very unfair. Any of us who think back to our college days will know only too well how easy it is to get involved in some affair which would not happen in the clear light of day. It is very important to have the Bill before the House today.

The aim of the Spent Convictions Bill 2011 is to provide persons who have a conviction for a minor offence the opportunity of not being obliged to disclose that conviction when seeking employment. Of course, there are exemptions where disclosure will always be required, most notably those relating to employment where there is access to children. This Bill recognises that the most effective means of rehabilitation is through gainful employment. Employment restores a person's self-esteem, enhances his or her status among family, friends and the wider community, and has been shown many times to reduce very considerably the likelihood of reoffending. Securing employment is clearly a very effective way of achieving the reintegration of convicted persons into society.

I was in Buswells Hotel today at a presentation given by Philanthropy Ireland. The man who made the presentation gave me a statistic which surprised me. He told me that the cost of keeping a prisoner for one year in this country is equivalent to the cost of educating a student to graduate level. That shows the importance of rehabilitation, of keeping people out of prison and getting them back to work within society, contributing to it rather than drawing on it. Employment is the key way to ensure reintegration into society. Unfortunately, some employers who hear disclosure of certain past minor indiscretions will automatically discard candidates, regardless of how good they are.

There is another issue. People may wish to travel but will have restrictions imposed, again because of some minor offence. They may wish to travel for a variety of reasons, perhaps to experience a different culture or see the world, or they may wish to travel to find employment. Unfortunately, we all know of people who must emigrate to find employment in the current situation. There may be cases where such people can travel on temporary visas. However, when people move to other countries, meet a partner or set up a family, they find it extremely difficult to get a permanent visa because of a minor offence committed in the distant past.

This Bill addresses a significant gap in the present arrangements. At present there is no means of regarding a conviction as "spent", apart from the limited regime for non-disclosure available to minors under section 258 of the Children Act 21001. This Bill, based on Irish sentencing policy and practice, proposes that a six-month imprisonment threshold is appropriate in our circumstances. The possibility of non-disclosure would only arise when seven years have passed without a further conviction when a sentence of imprisonment was imposed, or after five years in other cases. I note that previous speakers consider that the times proposed are too strict and that we should consider having shorter timeframes. However, they are generous compared with, for example, the conviction periods of ten years in New Zealand

It is important to say that although there is universal support for this Bill and for the present arrangements to be altered, a proper balance should be maintained between the interests of society generally, on the one hand and, on the other, the need to allow those who are prepared to rebuild their lives a reasonable opportunity to do so. Therefore, there are certain exclusions set out in the Bill, in terms of offences and certain employments. Convictions for sexual offences must always be disclosed. Similarly, convictions for offences, including rape, serious sexual assaults and murder, which are reserved for trial by the Central Criminal Court must always be disclosed. In respect of excluded employments, the Bill provides it should always be necessary to declare convictions when seeking employment in specified areas. Section 5(2) contains a list of such areas.

There is one issue we may debate to a greater degree when the Bill returns to the House. The Bill makes no reference to people who seek to join the Defence Forces and we should consider this point. I know many fine men and women who may have committed a minor indiscretion or offence who would love to serve in our Defence Forces but cannot do so. No such rule on conviction for minor offences disqualifies people from becoming legislators, elected to the Houses of the Oireachtas. People have been elected who have committed minor offences. If this situation is adequate for legislators it should be all right for enforcers of the law. That is an issue for the Government to consider when it introduces its own Bill.

I refer to an issue that was raised by previous speakers, namely, Garda vetting. I am led to believe the current situation is somewhat farcical. If Westmeath County Council is vetting all applicants for social housing, as is right and proper, and wishes to acquire a Garda report, it sends the application to Mullingar Garda station which sends it to Templemore. Templemore sends an order back to Mullingar to carry out the vetting and when this is done Mullingar sends the result to Templemore for eventual return to Westmeath County Council. Talk about duplication. I know of one instance where a man's housing allocation was held up for the guts of four or five months because a Garda vetting report was awaited. A measure such as was proposed would help to speed up Garda vetting and is another reason we should welcome this Bill.

I look forward to the Government maintaining its commitment to bringing back this Bill which has universal support in the House. It is imperative that we enact this legislation as soon as possible.

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