THE Progressive Democrats' spokeswoman on justice, Ms Liz O'Donnell, said yesterday that she was "alarmed" at reports that over 100 convicted sex offenders were to be released from prison within the next year.
The voluntary treatment programme in Arbour Hill prison, established over two years ago, could treat only 10 offenders at a time. With over 2(M) convicted offenders currently serving prison sentences it was quite clear that more rehabilitative measures were needed, Ms O'Donnell said.
There was ample evidence that sex offenders were repeat offenders and were in urgent need of treatment before being released, she added.