Charles Flanagan
Question:1 Deputy Charles Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Law Reform if an all-island sex offenders register has been established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13235/10]
View answerThursday, 25 March 2010
Questions (1)
Oral answers (5 contributions)
The Sex Offenders Act 2001 contains a comprehensive series of provisions aimed at protecting children and other persons. The Act makes persons convicted of a range of sexual offences subject to notification requirements in Part 2. These requirements also extend to any offenders convicted abroad of the same range of sexual offences who enter the State, including from Northern Ireland.
The Garda Síochána and the PSNI maintain close contact and exchange intelligence on convicted sex offenders. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the Irish and British Governments in 2006 on the sharing of information on sex offenders between the Garda Síochána and British police forces, including the PSNI. The Garda Síochána and the PSNI have subsequently signed an agreement on the sharing of personal data for the investigation of sexual offences and the monitoring of sex offenders. In addition, the probation service works in close collaboration with the Probation Board for Northern Ireland to ensure that effective communication is maintained about sex offenders who move between the two jurisdictions. Protocols to this effect have been in place since 2006 and are currently being reviewed.
Co-operation in this area has been the subject of regular discussions between myself and the Northern Ireland Security Minister, Mr. Paul Goggins. In fact, it has been on the agenda of every meeting we have had since I became Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. We established a North-South sex offenders action group in January to investigate current arrangements for returning sex offenders who travel to another jurisdiction in breach of notification and other requirements, and to make recommendations for improvements where necessary. Representatives from my Department, the Northern Ireland Office and the relevant agencies North and South are members of the group. This level of co-operation will continue when responsibility for policing and justice is devolved to the North next month.
I am currently reviewing the operation of the 2001 Act, and I expect to be in a position to seek Government approval later this year for a series of amendments to the Act.
I thank the Minister for his reply. Is it still his intention, and that of the Government, that there will be an all-island register? The Minister appears to be backtracking somewhat on commitments the Government made in this regard. What has happened since the report was published, on 27 January 2009, concerning sex offenders in the community? I am sure the Minister accepts that Ireland should not be regarded as a safe haven for any offenders, but in particular for sex offenders. I would remind him of the urgency involved, so perhaps the Minister could put a time-frame on the amending legislation that he now suggests is necessary to facilitate the important development of an all-island sex offenders register.
As I said in my reply, both Governments signed a memorandum of understanding in 2006. In fact, I was the Minister for Foreign Affairs at the time. Together with the British Northern Secretary, Peter Hain, I signed that document to bring together the know-how and contacts between both jurisdictions. It is the desire of the Government, the British Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to have greater harmonisation of the law on both sides of the Border. It is therefore all the better that next month will see the devolution of policing and justice so that we can do it on a bilateral basis with the Northern Executive and the relevant minister. We operate in two different jurisdictions, however, and the legislation in both areas is somewhat different. Nonetheless, we must harmonise as much as possible not only the administrative arrangements but also the legislative ones. Work will continue in that respect and hopefully it will accelerate when devolution takes place.
Would the Minister accept my contention that, in essence, post-prison supervision of sex offenders in this country is non-existent? There is no supervision once a sex offender has been released from prison. What is the current position regarding the Minister's own initiative — announced in a considerable blaze of publicity last year — to introduce electronic tagging of sex offenders? Where does that initiative stand now?
I would not like it to go out from the House that there is no post-release supervision in this jurisdiction. There is very substantial supervision by the Garda under the terms of the sex offenders register. Section 10 requires certain notification aspects. In addition, the Garda Síochána operates a domestic violence and sexual assault unit which oversees the notification and investigation of sex offenders. Equally, 130 sex offenders are under constant supervision and monitoring by the probation service.
In due course, I hope to bring forward the legislation required to impose post-release electronic tagging of sex offenders. It is a complex area and, as the Deputy knows, we have existing legislation which would potentially allow tagging for sex offenders on temporary release. As Minister, I have been extremely reluctant to allow any sex offenders out on temporary release, whether tagged or not.