Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

There are important issues we can address, however, and the Taoiseach has made it quite clear that he is prepared to recall the House to address them.

I want to refer to the question of registers of offenders, which Deputy Naughten understandably and rightly raised. In truth, there is no register of offenders as such in this State. There are two distinct and very different processes. One relates to sex offenders and allows such offenders to be put on a register for the purposes of supervision by the probation service after their release from custody for a defined period. The other issue is the accessibility of Garda criminal records for checking purposes for employers who wish to engage persons who have substantial exposure to children in their employment. I will have the pleasure of opening the Garda central vetting unit in Thurles in a few weeks' time. A planned extension of the unit is under way.

A third issue rightly raised by Deputy Naughten concerned the question of more general legislation dealing with a register of persons unsafe to work with children. A few weeks ago, a Government decision asked me to process this legislation which will be done on a North-South basis.

As regards the subject of the Bill, I regret to have to advise Deputy Jim O'Keeffe that the Government takes the view that the legislation is premature——

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