Disregard of Historic Offences for Consensual Sexual Activity Between Men Bill 2025: First Stage
Dail Éireann — 2025-07-01
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Pádraig Rice (SD), Cork South-Central

I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh and the members of the LGBT+ Restorative Justice Campaign, Kieran Rose, Brian Sheehan, Karl Hayden and others, for their work. I am delighted to co-sign this Bill on behalf of the Social Democrats. It is now 32 years since homosexuality was decriminalised, but some men are still living with the negative impact of criminalisation. Let us be clear: the prosecutions and convictions of gay and bi men for consensual sex was a gross violation of their human rights and did immeasurable damage. These arrests and convictions destroyed lives. The laws also had a negative impact on those who were not convicted because the threat of prosecution was used to harass people in the community. The archaic laws also had a major impact on the provision of public services, including HIV-AIDS prevention. The State must right the wrongs of the past. We are running out of time for some of these men. The Government must urgently act to disregard these historical convictions and must deliver true equality for LGTB people in Ireland.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-07-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-07-01