Tagging sex offenders - Delayed but very welcome

It is to be welcomed that Communications Minister Denis Naughten is to ask Cabinet today to sign-off on laws allowing the electronic tagging of sex offenders when their prison sentences end.

It has taken a long time to get to this point, where technology can be used to protect women and, hopefully, prevent sex attackers re-offending.

All in all a win-win situation.

Because this is Ireland and the ducks don’t always line up it seems necessary that Government give a full briefing on how this process might be managed across the police service.

Is there a monitoring system that might follow an individual right across this island?

Are staff in place to monitor that system in a meaningful way? Might that system recognise tags used by other EU systems? Will an offender who has been tagged be automatically returned to jail if they remove the tag?

Can the data gathered by these tags be used as evidence in a court? These are valid questions in a society where most State computer systems cannot interact and where the Garda Pulse system can hardly be described as exemplary.

Tagging cannot be regarded as a cure-all either. The recent murders of two young women could not have been prevented by tagging as the chief suspects were not tagged as they did not have a record of serious sex crimes.

Despite those concerns this legislation, albeit long-delayed, is very welcome especially as it may prove a valuable tool in better protecting women.