Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

That is an appalling and disgraceful answer about a serious and fundamental issue. In situations where local authorities have housed sex offenders, the absence of a policy has given rise to vigilantism. A low risk sex offender was housed in an estate in my constituency and their name and those of their family were published in the media and their photo was posted on walls and houses. The absence of a policy created a serious problem.

It is not good enough for the Minister of State to hide behind his ridiculous answer. This is an extremely grave issue. He should examine what has happened in the US where convicted sex offenders have murdered young children. It happens with increasing regularity, at least once or twice per month. There was the appalling murder of two girls in England. We need to ensure that those on the sex offenders' list and at high risk of re-offending——

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