Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages Dail Éireann — 2026-06-10 ============================================================ Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South I move amendment No. 3: In page 8, line 6, after “2021;” to insert the following: “to provide that the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration may, in respect of applications made to the Minister, issue to certain persons certificates of disregard in respect of certain historical convictions and other determinations relating to consensual sexual activity;”. The amendments I am moving in this group are in respect of the disregard scheme. Amendment No. 3 is grouped with amendments Nos. 8, 12, 46 and 51 to 64, inclusive. These amendments collectively provide for an application-based scheme to enable the disregard of certain historical convictions and other determinations relating to consensual homosexual activity. The other determinations in question are formal Garda cautions given in lieu of prosecution and probation orders given in lieu of conviction. The substantive amendments providing for the scheme are amendments Nos. 51 to 64, inclusive, which collectively insert a new Part 14 into the Bill, comprising 14 sections. Amendment No. 51 inserts an interpretation section for the new Part 14. It includes the key definition of "relevant conviction or other determination", which includes convictions in a criminal or military court for the offences of buggery, attempted buggery, gross indecency and importuning. It also defines the categories of persons that come within the definition of an immediate family member and that of a relative. This is relevant for the purposes of applications that may be made on behalf of deceased people. Amendment No. 52 inserts a new section which sets out the criteria that are to apply to the granting of a disregard application. Those criteria of course include that the relevant person did not cause any other person to participate in the sexual activity without their consent. Amendment No. 53 inserts a new section setting out certain key provisions in relation to the making of an application. This includes provision that a disregard application may be made by a relevant person, namely, the person who incurred the conviction or by someone nominated by the relevant person to make the application on his behalf. It also provides that where the relevant person is deceased, a disregard application may be made by an immediate family member, or if no immediate family member can or wishes to make an application, by a relative, provided there is no objection from an immediate family member. Amendment No. 54 inserts a new section providing for the appointment of suitably qualified or experienced independent persons to consider applications and independent reviewers to carry out reviews in cases where the Minister proposes to refuse an application and the applicant seeks such a review. Amendment No. 55 inserts a new section providing for a preliminary assessment of an application by the independent person in order to satisfy himself or herself as to whether the applicant is the relevant person or is otherwise eligible to make an application on behalf of a deceased person. Where the independent person is not satisfied, the same provision is made that he or she shall not consider the application further and shall notify the applicant and the Minister accordingly. Amendment No. 56 inserts a new section providing for the substantive consideration of the application by the independent person and the subsequent making of a recommendation to the Minister as to whether the independent person is satisfied that the conviction should be disregarded. The section includes a provision that any public body which may hold records relevant to the application shall provide those records to the independent person on request. Amendment No. 57 inserts a new section providing that the Minister shall consider the independent person's recommendation and either issue a certificate of disregard or else notify the applicant that the Minister is not satisfied that the conviction should be disregarded. The section provides that where a disregard certificate is issued, the Minister shall notify all relevant public bodies and that they shall annotate any relevant records they may hold in order to clearly reflect the disregard. Amendment No. 58 inserts a new section setting out the general effect of a certificate of disregard. The section effectively provides that the relevant person shall, to all intents and purposes, henceforth be treated as if the conviction never occurred and that there are no circumstances in which the disregarded conviction shall be disclosable, other than where the relevant person chooses to disclose it. Amendment No. 59 inserts a new section to provide that an applicant may seek an independent review of the matter, either where the Minister has proposed to refuse a disregard or where the independent person is not satisfied that the applicant is a person eligible to make the application. In either case, the application shall be examined afresh by an independent reviewer other than the person who originally considered the application and a recommendation submitted to the Minister as to whether or not to reaffirm the decision in either case. Amendment No. 60 inserts a new section to deal with a scenario where, subsequent to issuing a disregard, the Minister receives information giving rise to the reasonable belief that the application included or was supported by false or misleading information and the Minister is no longer satisfied that the conviction should be the subject of a certificate of disregard. The section provides that the Minister shall in any such case notify the applicant that the Minister intends to revoke the disregard and that the applicant may seek a review, which shall be carried out by a retired judge of the Circuit Court, High Court or Court of Appeal appointed by the Minister. Amendment No. 61 inserts a new section to provide that where the Minister proceeds to revoke a disregard, he or she shall notify the applicant and also the relevant public bodies which shall be required to re-annotate their records to reflect the revocation. Amendment No. 62 inserts a new section to provide that the Minister shall make appropriate efforts, including a public information campaign, to raise awareness, particularly among relevant persons in the State and beyond, of the disregard scheme and the effects of a disregard. Amendment No. 63 inserts a new section containing a number of provisions relating to the protection of personal data under the scheme. This includes provisions for the redaction of any non-relevant convictions held by a relevant person, if alive, or any information that could identify any other living person in connection with any offence. Amendment No. 64 inserts a new section to provide that nothing in this Part shall create any new rights or any cause of action, nor impose any liability on any person or on the State. This is provided for the avoidance of doubt. Finally, there are a number of technical, consequential amendments as follows. Amendment No. 3 amends the Long Title of the Bill to take account of this new Part, while amendments Nos. 8, 12 and 46 each amend a number of definitions and references to enactments elsewhere in the Bill to take account of related references introduced by the new Part. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-10/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-10