THE Rape Crisis Network has accused the Government of making announcements that they will protect people from high-risk sex offenders upon their release into the community, but of failing to enact legislation.
* Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern held a press conference this time last year highlighting plans to introduce electronic tagging of sex offenders, set up multi-agency monitoring committees and use standardised risk assessments on sex offenders in prison. However, nothing has been done.
* Minister for Children Barry Andrews also promised this time last year, in the aftermath of the Church’s refusal to fully answer a HSE questionnaire on the handling of clerical abuse complaints, that he would quickly enact legislation allowing for the exchange of “soft information” on suspected paedophiles. The legislation hasn’t been published yet.
The Government has said there are “complex constitutional issues” in drawing up the soft information laws which have to take into account the right to equality before the law, the right to a good name, the right to privacy, the right to earn a livelihood and the right to fair procedures. The laws would allow gardaí to exchange such information with schools, sports clubs and health authorities.
* The country’s vetting system for those working with children was also meant to be tightened up significantly after a Joint Committee of the Constitutional Amendment on Children described them in 2008 as “inappropriate”. At present, just new teachers and youth workers are obliged under law to undergo vetting before taking employment. A statutory obligation that all people working with children or vulnerable adults would undergo Garda vetting was to be introduced since 2006. This hasn’t happened.
Rape Crisis Network director Fiona Neary said, while electronic tagging may garner newspaper headlines, the involvement of Probation Services and the Garda in well-resourced post-release supervision committees is an even bigger priority.
“There are a great many dangerous people falling through the net due to our lack of proper vetting. New teachers must be vetted and youth workers, but there are still large sections of people working with vulnerable people who aren’t being vetted.
“Furthermore, promises of post-release supervision of offenders along with strong public awareness campaigns around child abuse and preventative programmes among offending children are not being acted upon.”
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said legislative proposals to provide an enhanced statutory framework for vetting are being developed by the Office of the Minister for Children in conjunction with its department. GPS monitoring of offenders is also being examined and high levels of monitoring already take place in the community. “A wide range of issues related to vetting and information sharing will be taken into account in new legislation, including the issue of the use of soft information in the vetting process. The bill will include a proposal to place the Garda vetting unit on a statutory footing and it will have responsibility for the management of information relevant to the vetting process.”
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This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, March 02, 2010
