Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 25:

In page 8, after line 33, to insert the following:

“PART 4

Amendment to Employment Equality Act 1998

Discriminatory treatment of persons with spent convictions or findings of guilt

8. The Employment Equality Act 1998 is amended by inserting the following section after section 14A:

“14B. (1) For the purposes of this Act, where an employer treats a person less favourably by reason of a spent conviction, the less favourable treatment constitutes discrimination by the employer in relation to the person’s access to, or conditions of, employment.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a person is treated less favourably by reason of a spent conviction where each of the following applies:(a) the person is an employee or prospective employee of the employer concerned;

(b) the person is a person to whom a spent conviction relates;

(c) the employer does either of the following:

(i) in the case of a prospective employee, requires the prospective employee to disclose a spent conviction or any circumstances ancillary to the conviction in the course of an application or interview for the employment concerned;

(ii) in the case of either an employee or a prospective employee, treats the person concerned less favourably for failure to disclose a spent conviction or any circumstances ancillary to the conviction in the course of an application or interview for the employment concerned.

(3) In relation to discrimination under subsection (1), nothing in this section shall render unlawful any act done in compliance with Part 3 of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012.

(4) In this section ‘spent conviction’ means—(a) a conviction which is spent by virtue of section 5 of the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016,

(b) a finding of guilt to which section 258 of the Children Act 2001 applies, or

(c) a conviction made against a person under the law of another state or territory, which would, if the conviction concerned occurred in the State, be a conviction to which paragraph (a) or (b) applies.”.”.