Sex offenders - Vigilance is necessary

In the last couple of years, the number of prosecutions of registered sex offenders for breaching monitoring rules has increased, especially since gardaí were given powers of arrest in such cases in 2008.

Currently, there are about 1,000 registered sex offenders who must inform gardaí about where they live. If they are going away for over a week, the registered offenders must also notify An Garda Síochána, who pass on an appropriate warning through Interpol to the country to which the person is travelling.

The level of supervision depends on the level of risk. But failure to comply with these provisions is a criminal offence.