218 sex offenders are being supervised whilst living in local communities, new figures released by the Probation Service have revealed. 

In July 1,724 people were under supervision following their release from jail; former inmates are obliged to inform Gardaí where they live within a week of their release and if they subsequently move home.

Other than that, the level of monitoring varies depending on the offender. 

“You’re talking about in the initial stages of post-release, once a week or in some cases twice a week, where the probation officer would have contact with the individual - either in an office or some other location,” former Mountjoy Prison Governor John Lonergan explained to Newstalk. 

26/07/2014. Mountjoy Prison. Photo: Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland

Change is on the way

In the future, the expectation is that sex offenders will be tagged electronically under new legislation being brought forward by Justice Minister Helen McEntee. 

Tougher sentences for the most serious of violent crimes are also under consideration - reforms that independent TD Denis Naughten believes are long overdue. 

“It’s been frustratingly slow and the difficulty is, it is putting women, children and other vulnerable adults at high risk because the laws have not been updated,” he complained. 

“We have some of the most outdated laws in Europe in terms of monitoring high risk sex offenders in the community.” 

In a statement, the Department of Justice said: 

“There is some evidence that electronic monitoring can be effective in respect of sex offenders when used in tandem with other interventions, such as probation supervision and this is what is proposed in the Bill. 

“It is envisaged that a pilot scheme will be introduced to explore the costs and benefits of the use of electronic tagging for sex offenders once the legislation is in place.”

Main image: A Probation Service van. Picture by: Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland