Government must set ‘clear timeline’ for scheme that will overturn criminal records for homosexuality, Seanad told

The Government needs to set out a “clear timeline” for the introduction of a scheme that will disregard the criminal records of men convicted before homosexuality was decriminalised in Ireland, the Seanad has heard.

Sinn Féin senator Fintan Warfield said “time is of the essence” and the Government had made a commitment which they “should honour”.

At least 941 men were convicted of “homosexual acts”, records released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act last year showed. The men were convicted under 20th-century legislation which no longer exists.

Mr Warfield said the Programme for Government included a commitment to introduce a scheme for the expunging of criminal records for gay men convicted of historical offences.

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“In 2018, on the 25th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality, the Taoiseach issued an apology to the LGBTQI+ community on behalf of the State,’’ Senator Warfield said.

“Subsequently, the Department of Justice set up a working group to examine the disregard of convictions for certain qualifying offences related to consensual sexual activity between men. The report of this working group is imminent and it is absolutely necessary that the Government drafts this legislation as we speak, so we’re calling for a clear timeline to be set up for the introduction of the legislation and scheme that would disregard these historical convictions.”

[ Laws criminalising LGBT people a ‘sin’ and an injustice, says Pope Francis ]

Minister of State at the Department of Justice James Browne said the working group had its final meeting earlier this month and that recommendations had been agreed, and “a report is currently being finalised”.

“Once the final report and recommendations of the working group have been published, my department will then progress to the legislative drafting process and the introduction of this scheme to disregard relevant criminal convictions,” he said.

“The Government’s ultimate desire is that the scheme is as effective and as accessible as possible so that we can exonerate those impacted by those outdated laws and address some of the lingering harms of the past.”

Mr Browne added that he didn’t have a “specific timeline” but that the issue was a priority for the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee.

Sinn Féin senator Lynn Boylan said while it was recognised Ireland had “moved on” as a country and a society in many ways, “we shouldn’t ever be complacent”.

“Anti-queer violence is now on the rise again,” she said. “2022 was one of the most dangerous years in Ireland for the LGBT community. We’ve seen numerous violent attacks against friends and family members even as recently as today.

“Members of this House have raised the awful video of a young, 14-year-old being attacked for being gay and I think it’s a sad reminder to us that that rights are always won.

“They’re never given to us and we always have to constantly fight to retain them, because there will always be a backlash when rights are progressed.”