Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Taoiseach. I wish to raise the Government's autumn legislative programme and express my disappointment at the absence of any priority for drafting legislation that would disregard the criminal convictions of gay men convicted of historical offences, namely consensual same-sex intimacy. In May, the Seanad passed a Sinn Féin motion that called for the introduction of legislation and a scheme that would disregard these criminal records. It has been eight years since the start of this process, yet, as Karl Hayden said, those living for decades under the cloud of criminal convictions are kept waiting for justice. I commend the job the Department's working group has done and I give the Government credit for being committed to this but missing out on the autumn schedule has caused upset and disappointment. Many of these folks are in the harvest time of life, old age, and the move to formally disregard criminal convictions would come too late for many, especially those no longer with us. It is important to reclaim the dignity and humanity of those imprisoned men for themselves as much as their surviving families. Those families were forced to carry the burden of shame, taboo and criminality attached to homosexuality in all its forms before decriminalisation. I ask the Taoiseach to get the Department of Justice to publish a timetable for this legislation. Time is of the essence to introduce legislation on a scheme. It is a commitment the Government made and should honour.

Sinn Féin welcomes the Supreme Court judgment that current voting provisions in the Seanad are unconstitutional. We commend Tomás Heneghan for taking the case. This judgment is a wake-up call. It has parachuted Seanad reform into the autumn legislative programme. The Manning report, the Seanad reform implementation group report and the legislation attached provide the Bills and basis for reform without the need for constitutional change. It is disappointing that Seanad reform was not mentioned today in the Taoiseach's speech but I am sure he will have the opportunity to address that in his responses. The majority of Senators should be elected by the public; it is as simple as that for us. I ask the Taoiseach to tell us how we can help to achieve that. We are ready to work with him on it.