Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Toland and the rest of the witnesses for coming before us this morning. I want to talk briefly about the inspectorate's review of child sexual abuse. Obviously, it is a matter of extreme concern not just to this committee but to all of the Oireachtas and all of the public. Two statistics are particularly worrying. The report found that 66% of all recorded sexual offences in Ireland involve a child victim, which is particularly worrying. The report contained a statistical finding that does not surprise me but is something of which we should be aware, namely, that only 5% of suspects were described as strangers. This reveals that in the vast majority of cases, abusers of children are people who occupy positions of trust. One of the findings in the report is that not all convicted sex offenders who should be monitored by the multi-agency SORAM process are subject to those arrangements. Will Mr. Toland tell us whether anything been done about that because that would be an issue of considerable concern to him and this committee?