I thank my colleague, an Teachta Ó Snodaigh, and the LGBT+ Restorative Justice Campaign for all of the work they have done on this. I will read a newspaper article. It is very brief. A 24-year-old Blackrock man was remanded on his own bail today on a charge of gross indecency. He was arrested by Garda John McCormack in Fairview Park on January 6 and charged with "committing an act of gross indecency" with an Englishman in the park. Solicitor Maurice Walsh told Judge Thomas Fitzpatrick that there was no injured party as such, but that his client was "most abused" in the incident. The defendant was remanded to February 10 for reports and the DPP's direction. That was on 27 January 1992. It is quite hard to imagine this was so recent in our past. That was my first year in college. I was 18 years of age. That young man was 24. For most of his adult life he has had to carry and endure that stain. I hesitate to use that word because it should not be a stain or a stigma but that is effectively what was done to him. That was in 1992. Although it is historical, we are not talking about something that is ancient history. It is in our very recent past. It is very shocking to contemplate the fact that homosexuality was only decriminalised in 1993 and yet we have taken so many strides. However, when we take a step forward, we do not always look back to ensure we have tidied up and dealt with all of the consequences. In this instance, we clearly have not. I welcome the fact that the Minister has responded to the pressure put on by an Teachta Ó Snodaigh, by the campaign groups and by other parties here. It is very good that he is bringing forward his own legislation. However, if it is the case that his legislation is delayed or that there are blockages, there is legislation that can be worked on because that legislation was introduced this evening by an Teachta Ó Snodaigh. We will all remember the campaign for same-sex marriage in 2015. I know I do. I walked the legs off myself. We knocked on doors and we talked to people. In the main, I found that people's attitudes were good and positive. It surprised me that there were still some conservative elements and some people who had a lot of hate in their heart and who were not able to make that change. However, love is love, or however you want to put it, and there was a majority decision on that day. I was in the city centre and the celebrations were absolutely fantastic. Everybody hugged each other and we all said "We did it." However, it was not done and it was not finished. We need to ensure that we bring everybody along and that we do not leave people like that young man behind or leave them with that stain, stigma or whatever word we might want to use. As we often say, there is still unfinished business. The discussion we are having this evening, prompted by an Teachta Ó Snodaigh and the campaign group, is very timely given that there has been a noticeable rise in homophobic attacks and abuse. That can be heard in the coarsening of language and seen online, including in that awful place, the manosphere. You also see high-profile people like Brendan Courtney talking about their own experiences. Mr. Courtney was attacked last year and he has talked about the rise of an anti-gay rhetoric. He said that there is anti-gay rhetoric building. We should do everything and anything we can, collectively as a Parliament and as a people, to call a halt to that. Passing this legislation sends a very clear signal not just to those people who are impacted and members of the LGBTQI+ community, but also to those people who seek to participate in the rise of homophobic rhetoric, anti-gay activity and all of that hate and awfulness. A pardon is not good enough. There must be a disregard. There was never any offence committed so there is nothing to be pardoned. There must be a disregard. We have to be absolutely unequivocal about that. There is cross-party support for this legislation. That can be seen. Other parties have signed it, which is really welcome. The Government has also indicated support for the legislation. If the Minister is going to introduce his own Bill, that is grand. Let him do it quickly and we will work with him to ensure it is passed quickly. If he is not going to introduce his own legislation, I ask that he work with us on our legislation. It is rare to stand in the Dáil Chamber and find that everyone is agreeing with each other. However, we might look around afterwards and ask, even though we all stood here agreeing with each other, what was the end result? The end result has to be the quick passage of meaningful legislation so that what we all agree was a grave injustice can be righted for those people who were wrongly convicted. An apology is fine but the disregard is what people want. There was never an offence committed so there is no need for any pardon. A disregard is what is needed. I commend an Teachta Ó Snodaigh, the members of all of the campaign groups and the other parties that have signed this legislation. I really do hope that this time next year, or even in a couple of months' time, we will have this legislation passed and that the work will be done. We are all in agreement so there is literally nothing stopping us from doing this.

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