Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill is closely related to the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 that was enacted before Christmas. In respect of children and vulnerable persons, the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill requires that any person wishing to work with such persons must disclose all past convictions, including any that would otherwise be spent under the Bill, if asked to do so. Similarly, under the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act, a vetting disclosure is required where an organisation wishes to employ a person to work with children or vulnerable adults. Rather than replicating many of the requirements of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act in the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill, as is currently the case, the Government proposes to link the two items of legislation in order that the same requirements apply to both.

This is being done in section 1 through amendments Nos. 19 and 20, by amending the definition of "relevant work" to provide for the link to Schedule 1 to the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012, which lists relevant work for the purposes of that Act. Amendment No. 20 deletes the definition of "vulnerable person", as this was required for the purpose of Part 2 of Schedule 3, while not in the proposed amendment to Schedule 3, to which Members will come later in respect of amendment No. 35. Amendment No. 31 deletes paragraphs (h) and (i) of section 10(1) dealing with the disclosure required by a person registering for the carrying on of an approved centre under the Mental Health Act 2001 or a designated centre under the Health Act 2007. The disclosure requirements for these registrations are contained in the Schedule to the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act and there is no need to replicate them here, now that the two legislative items are being linked.