Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 3, lines 23 and 24, to delete “relevant custodial sentence or a relevant non-custodial sentence” and substitute “custodial sentence or a non-custodial sentence”.

The amendments are to alter slightly the meaning of the terms "relevant sentence" and "relevant non-custodial sentence" in order to harmonise the wording between the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill and the vetting Act. Section 4 of the Bill will become redundant. I, therefore, propose that it be deleted. I am not proposing changes to the duration of relevant sentences. The Bill already provides that convictions resulting in prison sentences of up to 12 months can become spent. I appreciate that some Deputies would like to see the prison term that can become spent increased to a term of up to four years. However, having regard to the very serious offences that could then become spent, I am unable to agree to this. An examination of the Courts Service's sentencing database shows that if I were to accept a limit of four years, it would allow offences such as the possession of firearms, armed robbery and major drugs offences to become spent. The Government simply cannot agree to such proposals.

As the Deputies will be aware, the Law Reform Commission recommended that only sentences of up to six months could be spent, and we have already exceeded that recommendation. The 12-month cut-off covers over 85% of all custodial sentences handed down by the courts. Any yardstick or regime that allows that proportion of custodial sentences to become spent should be acceptable.

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