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SINN FÉIN SENATOR Fintan Warfield has called on the government to uphold their commitment to expunge criminal records of gay and bisexual men who were convicted of historical offences.
The promises, which are a part of the current programme for government, include the introduction of a scheme which will allow gay men to clear their criminal record of any offence connected to the historic laws which made homosexuality illegal.
Senator Warfield said on Twitter: “Today in the Seanad, Sinn Féin are calling on government to keep their word; to disregard the criminal records of gay and bi men who were convicted of historical offences, prior to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1993.”
In a motion from Sinn Féin, coming before the Seanad today, it calls on the government to provide a “clear timeline” of when the scheme is set to be put in place.
Senator Warfield added that “time is of the essence” now the country is 30 years on from the introduction of the Sexual Offences Act in 1993, which decriminalised male homosexuality.
The Department of Justice has introduced a working group to examine the the disregard of the convictions and published a progress report just over one year ago which discussed the deliberations of the group around existing schemes.
The report detailed that the working group was considering at the time whether the scheme would require additional legislative responses.
Minister Harris said in March that he expects to receive a final report and recommendations from the working group as early as possible in the second quarter of this year.
Pádraig Rice from LGBT Ireland, a national organisation for the equality and inclusion of the LGBTQ community, told The Journal: “We would like to see progress on the disregard scheme as soon as possible, this can’t be left drag on. Many of the people directly affected are older.”
Minister for Justice Simon Harris said the “victorian-era laws” caused “immeasurable harm to generations of gay and bisexual men”.
Minister Harris said: “One hundred and forty-eight submissions from individuals, LGBTQI+ representative organisations, other non-governmental organisations, trade unions and political parties and representatives were received.”
“Their responses will inform the final recommendations of the Working Group,” he added.
LGBT Ireland said for the disregard scheme to be successful, it must be “placed in a broader context and must consider and address the full impact criminalisation has had on LGBTQI+ people, communities, and wider society”.
Rice said the scheme should address a wide set of issues that the community still face today.
“These include banning conversion practices, introducing robust hate crime prevention, and improving sexual and mental health services for LGBTQI+ people,” Rice added.
Minister Harris said in March that he was conscious of the damage caused by the laws and said “work has been ongoing to progress all of the news steps in the report”.
Sinn Féin’s motion acknowledges the efforts from local communities to celebrate inclusion and the 40th anniversaries of both the Dublin pride parade and the Liberty Hall to Fairview Park march.
The Sinn Féin motion also acknowledges the efforts of the government so far such as the introduction of the previously mentioned act and the apology from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, on behalf of the state, to the LGBTQ community in 2018.
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Too much paperwork. This only adds to the burnout that many child protection workers face. The job of a social worker has become too administrative and less front line
@Alison Maguire: Do you think its the front line(visiting dysfunctional homes were there’s child abuse) or the admin element that causes turnover in staff ……
@Murr Paul: the frontline also deal with a lot of admin
I believe there is room for all, please note that some of the private agencies are social enterprises that re-investing the children in their care.
As a country though we need to really start investing in support of vulnerable families from pregnancy, good preschools good family support. Our legislation also needs a complete overhaul with a much stronger emphasis on what’s in a child’s best interest not the parents. A child in foster care can at any time be returned to the birth parents, how can a child fully commit to a new family if they are aware of this.
@Anne Kearney: A child in foster care can at any time be returned to the birth parents, how can a child fully commit to a new family if they are aware of this.
A child will always want to return to their parents as when turned 18 kick out by foster families regardless.
@Murr Paul: a significant number of foster carers would and do keep the child in their care after the age of 18. I feel some of the issue is the after care work that goes on from 15 or 16 preparing for independence can instill a fear in the child so there is increased acting out that causes the placement to break down. I reject you before you reject me. A lot of children during access are told that they can go home also the foster carers in their own eyes is only temporary. We need to be able to make a home more permanent for some children and carers.
Why do they try and privatise everything???
Never has a good outcome
In no way am I comparing a Child to a dog here but look what’s happened with privatization re Ashton Dog Pound. Neglect, Abuse, and power pulling where everyone in Dublin is in fear of calling for the dog warden.
@Margaret Doyle: You don’t want to compare the two, and yet you do.
€325 not much to cover all the costs involved with children who have been neglected. The government trying to do all the really important stuff on the Cheap again.
@Alan Kelly: what costs do they have more then any other child? They also receive child benefit, social welfare CDA increases etc. I know cases were they claimed the foster children were disabled to get carers allowance, care grant and domicile care allowance all untaxed. A right little money earner.
@Murr Paul: you cannot just CLAIM someone is disabled!!
Do you know the trauma these kids have been through? Do you know the time that goes into making sure all the needs of these kids at met?
@Murr Paul: would you work 24/7 for 1.93 euro an hour and take the child’s expenses out of that too.
@Murr Paul: What is wrong with you? The state is neglecting and allowing lifelong damage to occur to children. They are pouring money into private companies and you point to a baseless, imaginary problem of welfare fraud. Do you think that so you can feel better or are you just bitter or thick or both?
@Alan Kelly: Making foster caring financially too appetizing is far too dangerous. It attracts the worst of people, to the detriment of these especially vulnerable children. Of course low income families with the right intentions shouldn’t be excluded from fostering simply because they can’t afford it. But that’s why the system allows for specific expenses for the particular foster child in question (with receipts and review process with regards to expenses etc). But just a nice lump sum lodged into your account with no questions asked every month will end up attracting too much interest for all the wrong reasons.
The cost factor here must be quantified, the cost given of €1,000 in a private placement includes other support. It includes the cost of social work support available 24 hours a day 7 days a week not currently provided by Tusla. The private fostering agencies also provide support services such as educational supports child care workers etc.
The private agencies also may be asked to locate careers for children with a complex level of care needs.
have your say