Tony Gregory (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Question 460: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if prisoners convicted of crimes of extreme violence for example aggravated rape are psychiatrically assessed prior to release or if steps are being taken to safeguard the public from such violent people. [4296/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The vast majority of such crimes, including sexual offences, are committed by individuals with no diagnosed or treatable mental illness. In the small proportion of cases where a perpetrator has a previous history of mental illness or is diagnosed with a mental illness while serving a sentence, arrangements are undertaken to provide appropriate psychiatric intervention.

In relation to treatment programmes for sex offenders in prison, there are three forms of direct therapeutic intervention for sex offenders operating within the prison system. These are as follows: individual counselling from the Irish Prison Service's psychology service and the probation and welfare service; the sex offender programme which has been in operation since 1994; and one-to-one interventions by visiting psychiatrists who provide support for prisoners.

All sex offenders convicted since the introduction of the Sex Offenders Act 2001 are now placed on the register of sex offenders to assist with future monitoring and to safeguard the public. In addition, offenders who were convicted of a sexual offence prior to the introduction of the Act and who were still detained in the criminal justice system at the time that the Act was introduced were also subject to the provisions of the Act regarding the requirement to register their place of residence with the Garda Síochána.