Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and the departmental officials for their co-operation and for taking on board some of our feedback throughout the process. It is very much appreciated. This is obviously very important legislation, particularly in the context of the passing of the referendum on children and the belated accepting of responsibility by the State on these matters. We still have a long way to go but this is definitely a step in the right direction and a reassurance to the public that lessons are being learned.

An issue I wish to raise is that of spent convictions and I ask the Minister to consider further this matter and perhaps review how it progresses in time. The Minister wrote to me in October and stated it was his intention to streamline the interface between the two Bills to ensure they worked together harmoniously. We need to move forward with the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill 2012 in the year ahead and when we do so inevitable issues will arise. I read the transcript of the exchange between the Minister and my colleague Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh in which the Minister acknowledged the difficult balancing act involved in protecting the interests of children when including soft information. Sinn Féin supports this because the main priority is the protection of children. When we come to deal with the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill 2012 there may be issues to reconsider and it may be an opportunity to examine whether we can dovetail both pieces of legislation and ensure maximum protection. I ask the Minister to examine this. I saw from the exchange in the Seanad he is reflecting on it and will continue to do so, and I wanted to raise it at this point to ask that the Minister consider it again when we commence the next process which is somewhat related to this.

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