Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans, if any, to bring forward legislation dealing with sentencing and post-release supervision issues (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48243/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Under section 29 of the Sex Offenders Act 2001 a court can impose a post-release supervision order as part of a sentence. Indeed, when considering the sentence to be imposed on a sex offender, the court is obliged by section 28 of the Act to consider whether to include post-release supervision. The court is required to have regard to the need for such supervision, the need to protect the public from serious harm from the offender, the need to prevent the commission of further sexual offences by the offender, and the need to rehabilitate or further rehabilitate the offender. The aggregate of the sentence of imprisonment and the supervision period cannot exceed the duration of the maximum prison term for the particular offence. Also, the period of imprisonment cannot be less than the court would have imposed were it not in a position to order post-release supervision.

For the period of post-release supervision, the offender is required to comply with such conditions as are specified in the sentence for securing supervision by a probation officer. In addition, the court can include a condition prohibiting the offender from doing anything it considers necessary for the purpose of protecting the public. It can also impose a condition requiring the offender to receive psychological counselling or other appropriate treatment.

It is important to view provisions relating to post-release supervision together with other provisions in the Sex Offenders Act 2001. The legislation also introduced the "sex offenders' register" and sex offender orders. Any person sentenced to more than 2 years imprisonment for a scheduled sexual offence is subject to indefinite notification requirements. Upon the application of the Garda Síochána, the Circuit Court can make a sex offender order at any time after an offender's release from prison (or a sentence otherwise ceases to be in force) prohibiting him or her from doing certain things. A sex offender order can remain in force for 5 years or such longer period as the court may provide.

My Department has been conducting a wide-ranging review of the law on sexual offences. An examination of the Sex Offenders Act 2001, including a public consultation process, formed an integral part of that review. Arising from the review, I expect to bring legislative proposals to Government for approval shortly. These will include a number of measures to enhance risk assessment, notification requirements and the application of post-release supervision requirements.