Results 1,001-1,020 of 3,697 for speaker:Lynn Ruane

Seanad: Local Government Rates and Other Matters Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: I will make a brief note. We cannot address circumstances case by case. The point I will make is very local. I never do that, so I will allow myself this once. The Minister of State referred to the public consultation process, but the likes of the Manna Charity Shop will not exist when this Bill is signed into law. The rates section of the Department and the local authority need to...

Seanad: Local Government Rates and Other Matters Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Local Government Rates and Other Matters Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: I will withdraw it based on the Minister of State's response.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: I thank the Cathaoirleach and colleagues for allowing me to present to the committee today. I will mainly be covering the Private Members’ Bill, the Criminal Justice (Rehabilitative Periods) Bill 2019, which I was delighted to see pass Second Stage in the Seanad in February with unanimous, cross-party support. The Bill would expand access to spent convictions to people other than...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: I agree with the IPRT. I was trying to judge what the mood was like. I wanted to bring people around to the idea that the single conviction rule is not enough and getting them to think in what other ways we can approach it. As my legislation moves through the Houses, I am open to working with everybody to make the legislation as accessible and as liberal as possible. I am not married to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: Sometimes, we look at employment versus unemployment but there is also an issue about what jobs people are being pushed towards because of spent convictions. It is also about the type of employment, in particular if one is a young man from a working class community. We received many representations from young men who wanted to join the Army but who were excluded because of one minor offence...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: It is covered slightly in the current legislation. It looks at a single incident. As someone who has worked in the addiction sector, I have supported people who either had an episode of psychosis and ended up realising after one week that they faced ten different charges being dealt with in ten different courts. It is the management of that. I do not know whether Ms Ní Chinnéide...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: We constantly put the onus in terms of employment on the person with the conviction but an information campaign is also needed for employers to let them know it is Garda vetting, not Garda clearance. So many employers read the Garda vetting, see there is something on it and do not give the applicant the job, even though whatever is contained in the vetting has nothing to do with the skills...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: Fortunately, while some barriers and concerns get raised the feedback has on the whole been hugely positive, publicly and politically. People have seemed open and welcoming to the idea of expanding spent convictions. That is probably down to the number of representations that people get in their offices and they see that it affects almost everybody, or almost every family, in some way. ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: In consultation with stakeholders, I created a table which contains a proportionality scale. It was an attempt to look at everything from fines upwards. At present, a person could have a fine or community service period on their record for seven years, although it is minor stuff. It did not feel proportionate to have a blanket seven years. What we attempted to do in the tables was to set...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: I agree. For spent convictions and convictions in general, it is not about what the public will or will not say about the matter. I did not have any negative pushback when I introduced the legislation. People understand it. It highlights the disproportionate way in which such laws and regimes affect people in minority groups and lower social classes. It is not that the likelihood of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: I return to the aspect of young adults and society. A reason I am so interested in the matter is, as I have written publicly, I was a young offender and it is only because of societal interventions that I am where I am. It is because people ignored the Garda vetting process to give me employment at a young age in the area of addiction. At home I have a shoebox full of letters from young...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: I will have to find the research and submit it to the committee. I will follow up on Mr. Walsh's point. Research has been done in Scotland and it was found that when the spent convictions regime was improved there was a notable reduction in recidivism. That might be something we can look to in terms of research. The public would obviously like to see that any change results in a reduction...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: I will answer the first question and then I will hand over to Dr. McIntyre for the second part.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: It has been addressed somewhat, but Dr. McIntyre can repeat himself. The Department of Justice and Equality has been open to the legislation. We have had numerous positive interactions. Obviously, we have had support across the Houses on Second Stage. That can materialise but then disappear. I believe there is a will around this. I spoke earlier about the number of representations...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Spent Convictions: Discussion (10 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: No, I think we have managed to cover everything. Dr. McIntyre's last point on the guidance from the Data Protection Commissioner in regard to people's privacy is an important one to consider. I thank the witnesses for their time and we look forward to the report.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: I join colleagues in sending my sympathies and condolences to the families and friends of Brendan Grace and Noel Whelan. In recent years, Noel was a great support and showed me a huge amount of kindness and encouragement right back to 2015 when he contacted me about my two daughters and a campaign video they did for the same-sex marriage referendum. We had numerous communications...

Seanad: Parole Bill 2016: Committee and Remaining Stages (11 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: I move amendment No. 2:In page 14, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:“(7) A person who, by virtue of subsection (4), is not qualified, or has ceased, to be a member of the Board may apply to the High Court for an order that he or she may hold the position of member of the Board, and the High Court may, upon such an application, make such an order if it considers that it...

Seanad: Parole Bill 2016: Committee and Remaining Stages (11 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: That is not an apology. The Leas-Chathaoirleach said it was if she thought it was inappropriate, not if it was inappropriate in general.

Seanad: Parole Bill 2016: Committee and Remaining Stages (11 Jul 2019)

Lynn Ruane: I want to be associated with everything Senator Bacik has said. Notwithstanding the content of the amendment, it is extremely important for us that when we think about people who work in penal reform, such as the Irish Penal Reform Trust, it is not an offender versus a victim or introducing offending legislation. People who look to reform the penal system, the parole system and the justice...