Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of back to the House. I commend Senator Warfield and his party colleagues on bringing forward this very worthwhile motion. I extend a céad míle fáilte to the guests we have in the Chamber this afternoon for this very important discussion.

Fianna Fáil fully supports this motion. I welcome this very important discussion. I am very proud that my party has a long and proud history of campaigning for LGBTQI+ rights, from the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1993 by the then Minister for Justice, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, to, more recently, the delivery of civil partnerships in 2010. The party is very proud of that record.

The criminalisation of consensual sexual acts between men in Ireland came into effect prior to the foundation of the State. I was shocked to learn recently that it is estimated that 1,690 men were subject to criminal proceedings under the law between 1950 and 1993, with the majority of convictions taking place in the early 1970s, which is not that long ago. These criminal proceedings resulted in imprisonment, the paying of fines or even psychiatric attention.

This criminalisation is now widely and rightly recognised as an affront to human dignity. The generational harm that was caused by the Victorian-era laws that criminalised sexual acts between men continues to impact negatively on many people's lives even today. While we cannot undo the harm inflicted on people who were discriminated against for simply being themselves, Fianna Fáil supports this motion and will continue with the healing process.

As Senator Warfield outlined, this motion will achieve the commitments in the programme for Government and the Justice Plan 2023 to put in place a scheme to disregard the convictions of people convicted of consensual same-sex activity prior to decriminalisation.Such positive action for disregarding the convictions is already under way. The working group has a good bit of work done in this regard and I welcome that.

As 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the decriminalisation of consensual sexual acts between men in Ireland, we will continue the defence of LGBTQ+ rights. This motion will go some way to restoring the dignity of the people affected. It will address a significant historical injustice as well as sending a strong signal to that community that we all support them and are very much behind them.