19th February 2024
In the Irish Examiner, IPRT discusses the issues with finding work with convictions and employer attitudes to people with convictions after IPRT launched a report "The Secondary Punishment".
IPRT Executive Director, Saoirse Brady, comments in the Irish Examiner article:
"The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) published detailed research on employer attitudes to people with convictions (PWC).
A report entitled ‘The Secondary Punishment’, conducted by academics from Maynooth University, included a survey of employers which found that nearly nine in 10 would consider hiring PWC.
However, that positive instinct was clouded by a number of barriers that still exist when it comes to a final decision on hiring.
IPRT executive director Saoirse Brady says there is an assumption that when somebody leaves prison or finishes community service the punishment is over.
“But we know people continue to face ‘secondary punishment’ as their conviction will follow them for years — even decades — and intrude on many aspects of their lives,” she says.
“We know these individuals have skills, experience, and qualities that would benefit the workplaces, but we also know from our work they are all too often overlooked, despite making up a substantial part of the workforce.”
Perceptions do play a huge role in attitudes towards PWC, the study, conducted by Dr Joe Gerrihy and Dr Ciara Bracken Roche from Maynooth, shows.
“Many people, including employers, think of the most serious offences and extensive prison experiences when the issue of criminal convictions is raised,” they report.
“However, of the many minor offences that come before the first level of the judiciary in the District Court, relatively few go on to serve a custodial sentence.”
Damien Quinn of Speire Nua, his employer who has experience of hiring someone with convictions and IBEC also contributed to the article.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.