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

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 9, lines 4 to 6, to delete all words from and including “any” in line 4 down to and including “section” in line 6 and substitute “the nearest public office of the Garda Síochána to where they reside”.

Before the clock starts, I wish to recognise retired Garda Sergeant John Hynes and his wife, Catherine, who are in the Public Gallery. John was probably one of the foremost members of An Garda Síochána in securing prosecutions against sex offenders across the west. In fact, 26 of the 28 cases that he brought to the Central Criminal Court secured convictions. Of those 28 cases, 27 also involved the late Detective Garda Colm Horkan and Garda Maeve Carthy, who is still within the force.

Amendments Nos. 2, 4 and 5 address the issue in the legislation where there is a requirement for a sex offender who has been put on the sex offenders register to notify the divisional headquarters. Divisional headquarters are spread across the country. For example, the divisional headquarters for my area of Longford, Roscommon and Mayo is located in Castlebar, County Mayo. For someone living in Longford, Roscommon or Mayo, the nearest location to register is Castlebar. The Bill states that a sex offender can inform any divisional headquarters in the country. A situation could arise where someone who was convicted of a serious offence, was considered a high-risk sex offender and resided in, for example, Roscommon or Galway notified Wexford town Garda station. The person would have complied with this legislation as drafted by doing so. My amendments state that such persons must present themselves to the nearest public office of An Garda Síochána, preferably the local 24-hour station.

Let us remember that it is the local gardaí who will be responsible for monitoring these sex offenders, yet we are not even asking the sex offenders to comply with the legislation by presenting themselves at the local stations where they will be monitored. This is wrong. It facilitates high-risk sex offenders going undetected by allowing them to contact any divisional headquarters. This comes on the back of a culture in the overall thrust of much of the legislation in this area that puts the rights into the hands of the offender rather than the victim or future potential victims. I want the Bill to reflect a sex offender's responsibility to register at the local Garda station.

As the Minister knows, the register is there in name only. Every year, in excess of 70 breaches of it are recorded. These involve individuals who have come to the attention of the Garda, usually for some other reason. They are then prosecuted for breaching the sex offenders register. We need to put a robust system in place that facilitates the Garda in monitoring these individuals. That can only happen if the Garda is given the tools to do so.

When I raised this issue with the Minister on Committee Stage, she stated that the inclusion of "any" divisional headquarters was to capture a situation where the sex offenders to be monitored were away from their local stations but that the intention of the legislation was to ensure that they would register at their local stations. She stated that she would consider making this clear in the Bill, but that has not happened. We need to see such clarity being provided.

In the Minister's letter to me of 28 September, she pointed out that, where a sex offender did not register at his or her local Garda station and instead registered at another station, something as significant as a change of address would lead to an automatic email emanating to notify all persons who had access to the sex offender's details on the PULSE system. A difficulty with this is that a high-risk sex offender who is released from prison can call into a station in Wexford town and give an address in a rural townland in the west of Ireland. We are supposed to rest assured because an email will be sent to Garda stations across the country saying that this individual has registered in Wexford town, but it is the garda based in Castlebar who has to make contact with this individual, has to try to track him or her down within seven days and have him or her fingerprinted and photographed. The system does not allow that to happen. Even if that member of the force is not on holidays or on leave and gets access to the information, it is likely that he or she will have to sift through hundreds of activity reports on every single sex offender in the country. On a daily basis, a large volume of activity reports come to every garda in the country who is monitoring sex offenders. A garda will have to sift through all of them to identify someone who has recently registered in another divisional headquarters but will now reside in his or her area and will then have to track that person down within seven days. We are asking too much of gardaí and giving too much power to sex offenders who want to remain underground and undetected. The only way to put an effective system in place is to oblige in law convicted sex offenders who require monitoring to present themselves at their local Garda stations rather than at stations at the other end of the country. I urge the Minister to accept the amendments that I have tabled to reflect this fact.

See this speech in context