IN RECENT DAYS, media coverage of the presidential election has shone a spotlight on an issue that affects thousands of people living in Ireland: people with convictions entering employment and the persistent barriers they continue to face.

From the Irish Penal Reform Trust’s (IPRT) perspective, this moment provides an opportunity to have a meaningful and mature discussion on the supports people need as they navigate their rehabilitation and reintegration journey.

Employment enables people to give back – to their family, community, and the economy – and helps to make society a safer place.

IPRT has previously published dedicated research on employer attitudes to hiring people with convictions. The title of our report – The Secondary Punishment – is reflective of the current situation where unfortunately a person’s conviction can continue to intrude on so many aspects of their lives, years and even decades after they have completed their sentence.

While the study was small in scale, academics from Maynooth University engaged with both employers and people with convictions and found that almost nine out of ten Irish employers agreed that they would consider hiring someone with a conviction.

Employers are eager, with the right information, support and resources, to support this important journey for people with convictions and tap into this under-used pool of talent. Employers clearly recognised the key role that employment plays in reintegration.

However, everyone who took part in the research agreed that significant barriers remain for people trying to enter or re-enter the workforce including stigma, lack of transparency in hiring processes, demands on resilience, motivation and desistance, and narrowing job opportunities.

Moving forward

Back in 2018, Independent Senator Lynn Ruane introduced a Private Members Bill, the Criminal Justice (Rehabilitative Periods) Bill 2018.

 The proposed legislation would expand the range of convictions that can be considered ‘spent’. This means a person would no longer have to disclose these to a potential employer when they have worked so hard to overcome challenges in their lives.

The bill passed all stages in the Seanad in 2021 and received cross-party support. Yet, seven years later, we are still waiting for it to pass through the Dáil.

IPRT is frequently contacted by people who have a conviction asking when the “spent convictions” legislation will be enacted.

People tell us how they feel their conviction is holding them back from applying for jobs, going for promotions, entering higher education or even getting access to stable accommodation.

Despite having served their sentence – whether in custody or in the community – their past threatens to overshadow their future.

One of the issues that most worries people in this situation is the impact on their family and children and the stigma they often face in the schoolyard, in the workplace or in their wider community.

Rehabilitation

Effective spent convictions laws have a key role in removing barriers to reintegration for people who have shown that they have moved on from past behaviour.

To break the cycle of reoffending, comprehensive support must be provided for people leaving prison.

It is in everybody’s interests that rehabilitation services and supports are prioritised and adequately resourced.

Current government policy not only recognises this but there are clear commitments set out in the Building Pathways Together: Criminal Justice Reintegration Through Employment Strategy 2025-2027 to increase recruitment opportunities and long-term secure employment retention for individuals with criminal convictions.

While this strategy is welcome, its implementation clearly requires a whole-of-government approach and IPRT continues to call for a cross-departmental strategy to support desistance and reintegration.

This is important as findings from the Central Statistics Office consistently demonstrate that people subject to criminal sanctions are less likely to be in employment or if they are, they earn less than the general population.

The government also has another opportunity at hand to tackle societal prejudice and promote inclusivity and anti-discrimination for people with convictions.

When updating the Employment Equality and Equal Status Acts, an additional ground of discrimination based on criminal conviction as well as a ground based on socio-economic status should be included. This call has been echoed by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.

Media coverage

While robust and progressive legislation is necessary to support people with convictions to move on with their lives, the media’s role is also significant both for the individuals affected and public discourse.

Journalists have a duty to report on matters that serve the public interest. However, at times, we have to question whose interest is served when a person’s past transgressions are splashed across the front pages, especially when they have taken significant steps to change their ways and leave offending far behind.

At the heart of these stories are people – both the person who was convicted but also their families and often victims who were hurt by their past behaviour.

The media has a responsibility to report on these issues in line with its code of ethics, to minimise the trauma experienced by everyone involved, and to question whether the public interest is actually served by publishing the individual story.

IPRT has engaged with the Press Ombudsman around the ethical reporting of prior convictions and the details that are included, particularly when it references family members who often have to suffer the consequences. I have spoken personally to people who had turned their lives around and made significant progress in their careers, only for it to be derailed by a headline. The news cycle continues while they are left to pick up the pieces.

If as a society, we ultimately believe in the justice system, we need to acknowledge that the deprivation of someone’s liberty is the punishment for the offence they committed.

This punishment should end when their sentence is served and they should be actively supported to move on with their lives. This is an underpinning principle of a just, humane penal system and a true test of a decent and fair society.

Saoirse Brady is the Executive Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust