Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy will be aware that I published a detailed discussion document on the management of convicted sex offenders last January. The document highlights, inter alia, the possibility of using GPS electronic monitoring technology to monitor higher-risk convicted sex offenders for the first six months after the completion of their prison sentences and their release back into the community. A range of supports and care is particularly useful for reintegration during this critical period for many offenders. When I published the comprehensive review of how we deal with higher-risk offenders, I also announced the establishment of a project board, led by the probation and welfare service, that will examine specific possibilities in the context of the implementation of electronic monitoring, more generally, in this jurisdiction. I expect to receive the recommendations of the board, which is working to the brief I have mentioned, in the coming months. The board's report will inform decisions on the use that might be made of electronic monitoring technology in this jurisdiction. The Deputy will appreciate that this type of technology is another tool that can be used to support supervision regimes in the criminal justice system. It can help the probation and welfare service and the Garda Síochána, for example, to manage offenders in general, specifically sex offenders. In addition, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is examining whether legislation will be necessary to supplement the existing enabling provisions in the Criminal Justice Acts 2006 and 2007 if we introduce a pilot phase of electronic monitoring in this jurisdiction for a specific group or groups of convicted offenders, such as sex offenders.

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