Criminal records could be erased

The Employment Appeals Tribunal has recommended a facility be established to allow workers to erase past criminal records committed under duress for the purpose of Garda vetting.

It follows a recent ruling by the EAT to uphold the decision of a homecare services provider to sack a female employee who failed to disclose the full extent of her past criminal convictions on a Garda vetting form.

The tribunal sympathised with the situation of Rita Donoghue, a homecare worker lost her claim for unfair dismissal by Dublin West Home Help where she had worked for eight years.

At an EAT hearing in July, Ms Donoghue pleaded that it would be unfair if convictions received during the course of the break-up of her marriage should stay on her record for life.

The mother of six told the tribunal that she had married at the age of 18 against the wishes of her parents. Her husband was a drug addict and alcoholic who beat her and forced her to steal and pass forged cheques.

Ms Donoghue, who admitted being jailed twice, said her marriage ended after 30 years and she had subsequently secured a barring order and later a divorce.

As Dublin West Home Help is fully funded by the Health Service Executive, its employees have been required to secure Garda clearance since 2010.

Ms Donoghue explained to her manager that she would probably not pass the vetting procedure when she was asked to fill out a form in September 2011.

She told the tribunal that she genuinely could not remember the details of her convictions. However, she had answered honestly on the form that she had a number of previous convictions.

When gardaí returned the vetting forms in May 2012, it emerged Ms Donoghue had failed to disclose 10 convictions to her employer.

Mary Flood, Ms Donoghue’s manager, said she had to consider the vulnerability of her clients as the central issue, although she was aware that Ms Donoghue had had a difficult life.

Ms Flood said she felt trust had broken down because Ms Donoghue had failed to disclose all of her convictions, particularly the details of three which had been received while she was working for Dublin West Home Help.

Peter O’Leary, chairman of the EAT division which heard the case, said it was apparent that Ms Donoghue’s married life was a misery due to the pressure exerted on her by her former husband.

“Her future life will be marred by the record established through no real fault of her own,” he said.

Mr O’Leary said the tribunal reluctantly came to the conclusion that Dublin West Home Help had acted reasonably in all the circumstances and Ms Donoghue had not been unfairly dismissed.

“This was a very difficult decision for the tribunal to come to knowing that the appellant had undergone difficulties in the past not of her making and that it was natural and reasonable for her not to disclose the offences she had been convicted of,” Mr O’Leary said.