Courts Service denies criticism over sex offenders

The Courts Service has rejected criticism relating to its role in the tracking of convicted paedophiles and other sex offenders.

The service denied allegations that there was regularly a breakdown in communication between its offices and the Garda in relation to the monitoring of sex offenders.

The service was responding to remarks made last week by the State solicitor for Donegal Ciaran Liddy in which he criticised the effectiveness of the sex offenders' register.

Mr Liddy claimed the system was being undermined by bureaucracy and a lack of funding for a central data base to aid local gardaí monitor convicted sex offenders.

He also claimed there was regularly a communications breakdown between different departments such as the gardaí and the Courts Service.

But in a statement today, the Courts Service said it "categorically refuted" these suggestions and insisted that it was fully compliant with its responsibilities under Section 14 of the Sex Offenders Act 2001.

It said that following each conviction the Courts Services immediately forward a certificate of conviction or sentence regarding persons involved to the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána and to the person in charge of the place to which the offender has been ordered to be imprisoned or the probation service.

"The service has no ongoing role in the keeping of a central register or database, or in the ongoing dissemination of this information," it added.