Paedophiles ‘may find Republic a safe haven’

PAEDOPHILES from abroad can arrive in Ireland undetected and take up jobs with access to children despite tough new sex offender laws, it was warned yesterday.

While Ireland has an agreement with Britain to share information on the movement of convicted paedophiles, there are no international arrangements.

The ISPCC says the lack of adequate vetting procedures in the Republic means paedophiles can also secure jobs with access to children.

“The lack of an adequate vetting procedure for those who work with children still places children at substantial risk,” said Paul Gilligan of the ISPCC.

“The ISPCC believes there needs to be standardised procedures to assess and manage sex offenders across Europe, alongside clear protocols on the exchange of information between police forces from one jurisdiction to the other,” he said.

The Department of Justice, however, says it has launched a major offensive against sex offenders and anyone entering this jurisdiction with a conviction must register with gardaí .

A spokesman for the department said there was already some co-operation among police forces on the movement of convicted offenders and new EU laws would reinforce this.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell will shortly sign an EU Framework Decision on the Sexual Exploitation of Children, which will set minimum standards for police co-operation throughout the union.

But the ISPCC says that at present authorities have no way of knowing when an offender arrives here because of lack of co-operation between international police forces.

It also says our vetting procedures for posts with access to children are not rigorous enough.

This potentially makes the country a safe haven for paedophiles fleeing from more stringent laws, the ISPCC warned.

While all applications for full-time posts in areas such as the health sector are vetted, there is no vetting of part-time employees, community workers and people from outside Ireland and Britain seeking work

Mr Gilligan said the conviction of Patrick Finbar Murphy for sexual abuse committed between June 1999 and October 2001 highlighted the serious deficiencies in child protection, monitoring and vetting procedures in this country.

The case involved a person with sexual abuse convictions in Britain returning to Ireland where he was able to continue abusing children.