Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I wish to raise a case highlighted over the weekend of a high-risk convicted paedophile who broke the terms of his probation order in Northern Ireland and came to reside in the Republic of Ireland. There is quite a bit of concern about this matter, given the need to put in place an all-Ireland approach to the question of child protection policy in general.

My understanding is that if a person such as a high-risk convicted paedophile from one jurisdiction comes to live in another jurisdiction, the person is under the obligation of reporting to a local Garda station just once. There is no ongoing monitoring or assessment. There is no examination of the way in which these people may interact with children.

If ever there was a need to put in place an all-Ireland policy with all-Ireland structures relating to monitoring, assessment and police communications north and south of the Border, it must surely be in this area. We should either go the route of extraditing people if they break the terms of a probation order, a very severe circumstance, or else we should apply the penalties in force in one jurisdiction in the other jurisdiction. People of these islands enjoy free movement north, south, east and west but there needs to be much greater security in respect of convicted paedophiles and the systems need to work in order that we can ensure public safety. That should be brought about in addition to the all-Ireland vetting process which the Minister rightly said was required. I ask the Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to brief this House on his plans in this area and to set out what additional co-operation between the Garda Síochána and the PSNI is required to ensure child protection is taken seriously and structures are put in place to deal with it effectively.