Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 325: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason the majority of sex offenders are not brought to justice; and the protection plans for child safety in place in view of the 8,150 sex offenders living and working in the community. [22414/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Government places a high priority on putting into place measures aimed at tackling crimes of rape, sexual assault and other crimes of a sexual nature.

All sexual offence cases are the subject of rigorous investigation by the Gardaí. All available resources are employed in respect of all sex offence cases to bring these investigations to a successful conclusion. Investigation files are forwarded to the Law Officers for a decision as to what charges are to be preferred. An Garda Síochána actively encourages people who are the victims of any crime to report the offence to the Gardaí. In addition, a number of established initiatives underpin this policy, such as the Garda confidential telephone number, Crimestoppers and Crimecall.

The Criminal Justice (Trafficking and Sexual Offences) Bill, at present at an advanced stage of preparation in my Department, will offer further protection to children against sexual exploitation. Also, an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill 2004 has been tabled in relation to the reckless endangerment of children. This amendment arises out of the Ferns Report which was delivered to the Minister for Health and Children last October. The amendment is due to be discussed in the near future at Committee Stage of the Criminal Justice Bill.

There is a high attrition rate in rape cases in Ireland, and a large number of cases reported to the Gardaí do not reach prosecution stage for a variety of reasons. My Department has approved joint funding for comprehensive research into attrition rates in rape cases. The research, which is entitled "the Understanding of Attrition, Early Withdrawal, the Trial Process and Identifying Possible Changes to Support Complainants in Rape Cases", is being carried out by the Department of Law at the National University of Ireland, Galway and the Rape Crisis Network Ireland, is being conducted over three years and is expected to be completed in 2007/2008. This research should provide a greater understanding as to why some victims choose not to report cases to the Gardaí, what can be done about under reporting and why, of the cases that are reported, only a relatively small percentage result in a court hearing.

The Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) was established in 2002 and currently processes vetting requests in respect of, inter alia, prospective full-time employees of the Health Service Executive and certain agencies funded by the Health Service Executive, as well as in respect of selected employment in other sectors.

In 2004, an interagency Working Group on Garda vetting reported with a clear and focused strategy for enhancing national vetting arrangements. The strategy provides for an expansion of the GCVU's vetting service to all organisations which recruit persons having substantial, unsupervised access to children and vulnerable adults. The implementation of the strategy is being overseen by an Implementation Group on Garda Vetting comprising key stakeholders.

The GCVU has been successfully decentralised to new, custom-designed office accommodation in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. Since its decentralisation in November, 2005 new liaison mechanisms have been successfully implemented in the Health Service Executive and are now being extended to all organisations previously registered for vetting. Significant changes have been made in the work processes of the Unit in order to streamline the processing of vetting applications and have resulted in an improved service being provided. In addition, an additional 17 staff have been provided to the GCVU to more than double its numbers from 13 to 30.

The expansion of the Garda Vetting service to new organisations and sectors will be by way of a phased roll-out to an increasing number of organisations in the child care and vulnerable adult care sector and a phased expansion plan, within current resource capacity, has been prepared and accepted by the Implementation Group on Garda Vetting. This has resulted in an increase in the number of Health Service Executive personnel being vetted in the first quarter in 2006, as well as vetting being introduced for the Private Security Authority. A number of organisations from the voluntary sector are currently being identified for vetting services.

The expansion of the service being provided by the GCVU is proceeding in a planned and structured manner in consultation with Government Departments responsible for childcare, and will continue until vetting is provided for all personnel working in a full time, part-time and or voluntary capacity with children and or vulnerable adults.

The Sex Offenders Act, 2001, which commenced on 27 September 2001, sets out the obligations on persons convicted of a range of sexual offences. A convicted sex offender must notify his/her name(s), date of birth and current home address to the Garda Síochána within seven days of the conviction for the sexual offence concerned or, where the offender is sentenced to imprisonment, from the date of full release from prison.

Thereafter, the offender must notify the Gardaí of any change of name or address within seven days of that change. Notification of any address where the offender spends either as much as seven days or two or more periods amounting to seven days in any twelve month period must also be given to the Gardaí.

If the offender intends to leave the State for a period of seven days or more s/he must inform the Gardaí of this fact and the address at which s/he intends to stay and also notify the Gardaí of his/her return. If s/he did not intend to stay away for more than seven days but did, s/he must inform the Gardaí within a further seven days.

The provisions of the Act extend to any sex offenders entering this jurisdiction from abroad who have an obligation to register in their own countries.

It is an offence to fail to comply with the notification requirements. The penalty is imprisonment for up to 12 months or a fine of €1,900 or both.

The courts can also sentence an offender who has been found guilty of an offence under the schedule of offences in the Act to a period of statutory supervision under the Probation and Welfare Service on their release from prison.

The Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit of An Garda Síochána monitor and manage the notification provisions. There are nominated Garda Inspectors in each Garda Division who are notified by the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit when a sex offender, who is subject to the requirements of the Sex Offenders Act, 2001, becomes resident in their Division and who have responsibility for monitoring such persons.

There are currently 915 persons subject to the Act's requirements. The Act and its operation are kept under constant review.