Barry Andrews (FF) is set to become the first ever government TD to bring a Private Members Bill through the Dail and Seanad, having received government approval for his Spent Convictions Bill. Under the proposed legislation, people with minor convictions . . . involving a prison term of no more than six months . . . will after a period of seven years, be cleansed of their criminal record, and may answer 'no' when asked if they were ever convicted of a criminal offence.

A number of exclusions will be listed. Anybody convicted in the central criminal court, or of a sexual offence, will not be eligible, while a person applying to work with children, or in the Gardai, will be required to reveal any criminal conviction.

Such changes have already been recommended by the Law Reform Commission and similar legislation introduced in the UK has benefited thousands of people who had been convicted years earlier of relatively minor offences.

Andrews told the Sunday Tribune that "the debate on criminal justice is too much geared towards the 'throw away the key' commentary.

It's not fashionable to talk about rehabilitation."

The Dun Laoghaire TD said he had received unanimous support for the measure from the FF parliamentary party for the bill, which he hopes can become law before the summer. He expected some amendments to be introduced to the bill as it passes through the committee stage.

Fine Gael's Justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan said that while he would wait and see exactly what was being proposed, he supported the general principle of the bill. "People convicted for minor offences shouldn't be burdened by this for life."