A criminal record in Ireland: what is recorded and who can see it

"Do I have a criminal record?" is the question behind a great many searches, and it has no single answer, because Ireland has no single record. The Garda hold one thing, the courts another, the National Driver Licence Service a third, and what any of them shows to anyone else depends on the law that governs the asking. This guide explains what each outcome in the District Court leaves behind, where it is held, who can see it and how, and how you can see it yourself.

Where records are kept

PULSE is the Garda records system (see the glossary). It holds incidents, arrests, charges, summonses, court outcomes and convictions, together with cautions and other non-conviction outcomes. It is the record behind Garda vetting and police certificates.

The Courts Service holds the court record: the charge, the dates, the plea, the order made and any fine. It is the record that a court consults when you come before it again.

The NDLS holds your driving licence record, including penalty points and disqualifications. It is not a criminal record, though a court-ordered disqualification sits on both.

None of these is public. There is no online register of convictions in Ireland, no search an employer or a neighbour can run, and no way for a journalist to look you up. What becomes known is what is said in open court, what the law allows to be disclosed, and what you disclose yourself.

What each outcome leaves

The "can become spent" column is subject to the one-conviction rule and the exclusions in the 2016 Act, explained in spent convictions and the seven-year rule.

A conviction

A conviction is recorded by the court and the Garda. It must be disclosed wherever a form asks about convictions, until and unless it becomes spent. A fine, a conditional discharge, community service, a suspended sentence and custody are all convictions.

A caution

An Adult Caution from a Garda superintendent is not a conviction. It is recorded on PULSE, and the Garda's own description of the scheme says it can be disclosed in Garda vetting for some roles. It is not something you have to disclose on a form that asks about convictions. The scheme is in the Adult Caution Scheme.

A Probation Act dismissal

A dismissal under section 1(1) of the Probation of Offenders Act 1907 is not a conviction. The prosecution and its outcome are recorded by the Garda and the courts. For most purposes the record is invisible; it can appear in Garda vetting because the Bureau discloses prosecutions as well as convictions. See the Probation Act, sections 1(1) and 1(2).

A strike out or a dismissal

Neither is a conviction. The Garda record shows that you were prosecuted and what happened. An employer without vetting access never sees it.

Who can see the record

The Garda and the courts see all of it, spent or not. If you are charged again, the court sentencing you knows your record, including spent convictions.

Garda vetting is the only route by which an employer or a voluntary body sees anything, and it is confined to work with children or vulnerable people, through an organisation registered with the National Vetting Bureau. The Bureau discloses convictions, prosecutions pending or completed, and, for relevant work, specified information. Section 14A of the National Vetting Bureau Acts 2012 to 2016 stops the disclosure of a single conviction that is more than seven years old, committed at 18 or over, where the sentence was completed and the offence is not on the excluded schedule. You cannot be vetted at your own request; the organisation applies, and you see the disclosure before it does. The detail is in Garda vetting, police certificates and travel.

A police certificate, applied for through your local Garda station when a foreign embassy or employer requires one, discloses all convictions, whether or not spent under Irish law.

Insurers see nothing from the Garda. They rely on your answers on the proposal form, and a false answer can void the policy. Where a question asks about convictions, a spent conviction need not be disclosed; where it asks about prosecutions or penalty points, read it carefully.

Foreign immigration authorities see what you tell them and what a police certificate shows. The US, Canada and Australia ask about convictions regardless of whether they are spent in Ireland.

Employers outside vetting see nothing unless a contract, a professional regulator or a licensing law requires you to disclose. The 2016 Act lists the roles and licences where disclosure of a spent conviction is still required. The employment side is on EmploymentWise: a conviction and your job.

How to see your own record

You have a right under data protection law to a copy of the personal data the Garda hold about you. The request is made in writing to the Garda's data protection unit, with proof of identity, and is answered within the statutory period; there is no fee for a first request. The copy shows what PULSE holds under your name, including convictions, cautions and the outcome of prosecutions. If something on it is wrong, you can ask for it to be corrected.

The court record of your own case can be obtained from the court office that dealt with it; find your court office. A police certificate can also be used to see what would be disclosed abroad, but it is issued for a stated purpose and the Garda may ask what it is for.

"Criminal record Ireland 7 years cleared"

The phrase people search for is half right. The Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016 makes certain convictions spent seven years after the effective date: those that ended in a fine, community service, a suspended sentence, a Probation Act conditional discharge or a bond, or custody of twelve months or less. Only one conviction can become spent, except that minor District Court motoring and public order convictions do not count towards that limit. Sexual offences and Central Criminal Court convictions never become spent.

A spent conviction is not erased. It stays on PULSE, the Garda and the courts can see it, a police certificate shows it, and listed roles still require it to be disclosed. What changes is that for most purposes, including most job applications and most insurance forms, you are treated as never having been convicted of it. The date for your own conviction is in the spent convictions tool.

Where this leaves you

Use the spent convictions tool to see what your outcome leaves on the record and the date a conviction becomes spent. If you may qualify for legal aid, ask the judge for it at your first appearance; the tests are on legal aid. A solicitor can tell you, before you plead, what each likely outcome would leave on the record: how to find one. If the worry about a record is weighing on you, support lists who to talk to.