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

I move amendment No. 23:

In page 18, to delete lines 9 to 36.

The amendment proposes the deletion of the provision requiring that the offender be informed before the potential victims or their guardians. In reality, what would happen under the section as drafted is that when a sex offender who is in contact with and has obviously been grooming a child or vulnerable adult is informed this disclosure will be made, he or she will just go to ground. That means that nobody will be informed and the offender will be free to do the same thing again but on that occasion will be far more careful to ensure his or her movements do not come to the attention of An Garda. All the offenders will do is refine the grooming mechanism they have been using up to that point to go undetected the next time. The offenders should not be given advance notice of this information.

Amendment No. 24 is a technical amendment in respect of what "publication" actually means. To me, it means the release to a publication and may not, in theory, include social media. My wording avoids that confusion. That is the only reason I have tabled the amendment.

Amendment No. 25 proposes that the Commissioner should be obliged to publish details on how he or she intends to assess and manage offenders post release, as well as how and when the information will be provided to other police forces or third parties.