Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 12:

In page 11, lines 14 and 15, to delete “3 days” and substitute “7 days”.

If I have read the legislation correctly, the Garda has three days to act on foot of an offender making a notification to the force. The Garda can only take fingerprints and photographs within that time. This seems to be a tight window. If the Garda member monitoring sex offenders goes out sick or if there is a serious incident in a particular station, this three-day period seems to be a tight window. Does the clock start ticking when the offender contacts the station? Is that when the three-day period kicks in? Periods such as bank holiday weekends or Christmas could be deliberately used as a mechanism to try to ensure the individual concerned does not provide the relevant information to the Garda. The three-day window seems to be tight.

On amendment No. 13, the Garda can only hold an offender’s fingerprints for three months after his or her monitoring period has expired. The reality is that the victims must deal with this impact for the rest of their lives. We are stipulating, however, that offenders' records will be erased three months after the monitoring period has ceased. That is not appropriate and it is why I propose this amendment.