Some sex offenders to wear electronic tags under new legislation

Helen McEntee

The Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2021, which justice minister Helen McEntee said would address communities’ concerns about sex offenders, was approved by ministers yesterday.

The bill will also explicitly ban sex offenders from working with children, and tighten the timescale in which sex offenders have to notify gardaí of a change of address from seven days to three days.

Gardaí will also be allowed to disclose information about certain sex offenders publicly in circumstances where it is deemed that there is a serious threat to public safety.

Welcoming the new legislation, Noeline Blackwell, human rights lawyer and CEO of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC), said: “Any new legislation in this area must aim to reduce the risk of new offences, including by monitoring those deemed to be at risk of such re-offending.”

She added: “The proposals in this new bill to reduce the time within which sex offenders need to notify any change of address and requiring them to furnish ID thus seem like basic requirements.

“Similarly, strengthening the legal basis to allow courts to ban convicted offenders from working with children and vulnerable adults, and to allow Probation, Garda and Tusla services to work together in a co-ordinated way, creates good management tools.”

However, DRCC warned that much depends on the resources provided for all these measures, particularly electronic tagging, where support staff will be required to monitor those wearing them and gardaí must be available to find offenders who breach a condition.

Ms Blackwell said: “Overall, this bill is welcome and we look forward to the long awaited updating of legislation which has not been reformed since it was introduced in 2001.”