500 on sex offenders list since September 2001

THE number of sex offenders registered here is growing at four times the rate of that in Britain.

There are almost 500 people listed as sex offenders in Ireland, according to the latest garda figures. In the four months to the end of June, 110 people were convicted and added to the list.

Per head of population, the register is growing at more than four times that of Britain, where 16,000 people have been registered in six years.