Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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161. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to consider a review of the spent convictions legislation and the removal of minor driving offences from the records of persons in a period less than seven years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10671/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The 7 year waiting period before convictions, including convictions for driving offences, can become spent was adopted in the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016 taking account of a number of factors. Not least of these in the case of driving offences are the provisions of the Road Traffic Acts.

The 7 year period takes account of the mandatory driving bans now imposed for certain motoring offences. These bans can be for up to 6 years in length for some offences that are eligible to become spent, including some drink driving offences. Road traffic legislation already provides persons with penalty points on their driving licence arising from minor road traffic infringements and penalised drivers have to wait 3 years before the penalty points are removed.

A 7 year waiting period before any conviction, including road traffic convictions, can become spent is deemed appropriate and proportionate.