Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I move:

That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to make provision for a process for the disregard of certain historic criminal convictions arising from consensual sexual activity between men; to amend the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014; and to provide for related matters.

Tá fir aeracha fós ag fulaingt mar thoradh ar choiriúlú atá 30 bliain thart.

As Dublin marked Pride this weekend, LGBT+ people faced slurry in Ballymena, bans in Budapest and shootings in New York. We think of them as we work to undo the past criminalisation of consensual gay sex in this State with this disregard Bill, one of the 95 recommendations of the working group's report. I thank the six parties that have signed this Bill. I thank, in particular, Deputies Nash, Rice, Paul Murphy, O'Gorman and Catherine Connolly for cosigning the Bill, as well as the LGBT restorative justice campaigners. Curim fáilte roimh those in the Gallery today. To them I say "Well done". I also thank the legal drafters, Ms Céile Varley and Mr. Ciaran Bracken, the law firms Goodbody and Clifford Chance, and everybody else who contributed to the legislation.

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