Helen McEntee

There have been 53 breaches of the Sex Offenders Act 2001 since the beginning of the year, compared to 48 in all of last year.

In a reply from the Dáil to independent TD Denis Naughten, Ms McEntee said that of the breaches that have occurred so far this year, 45 have resulted in court proceedings. Thirty-seven prosecutions were commenced following breaches last year.

There are currently 1,625 people who must notify gardaí of their movements and place of residence under the Act. Ms McEntee said the compliance rate stood at 96 per cent for this year.

Mr Naughten said: “Every week at least one convicted sex offender comes to the attention of the gardai because they are not living at the address that they have provided to authorities – in most instances the only condition that they had to comply with following their release from prison.

“The reality is that Gardai are not, under the present law, in any position to monitor sex offenders following their release from prison. It is only when they come to their attention for other reasons that they are charged with a breach of their post-release conditions.”

He added: “These figures are, I firmly believe, just the very tip of the iceberg when it comes to the blatant breach of what are some of the most lax sex offender monitoring laws in Europe.”