A register of sex offenders will be introduced next year, according to a spokesman for the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue.
A decision will be made by the Minister within weeks as to whether the register should include all sex offenders or paedophiles only.
The failure by the Minister to set up a register was described by the Fine Gael spokesman on children, Mr Dan Neville TD, as a disgrace.
"The attempted abduction of children in Newcastle West and Limerick prior to Christmas again highlights the need to be aware of the State's duty to protect its children and the urgency to use all available means to do so," Mr Neville said.
"It is now 14 months since a register was introduced in the UK and Northern Ireland," he said. "It is accepted that paedophiles are fleeing the British register and coming to this State to carry out their vile acts."
Mr Neville criticised the Government for refusing to accept his Private Member's Bill on the issue last February.
The Bill proposed that those convicted of sex offences against children be required to register with the Garda if ordered to do so by the convicting judge.
People who had been obliged to register in Britain would also be required to register here if they moved to this State, the Bill proposed.
The Government rejected the Fine Gael Bill but instead published a discussion document.
Last August Mr O'Donoghue's Department said a decision on whether to include all sex offenders or paedophiles only would be made in the late autumn.
Yesterday the Department said Mr O'Donoghue was considering the submissions made in response to his discussion document and that he would make a decision in the new year.
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has demanded that any register should include all sex offenders, arguing that most of those who sexually abuse children are not paedophiles and that some of them also rape adults.
Calls for the establishment of a register have been made for many years. In 1996 the Garda Representative Association called for a "national criminal register" to prevent convicted child sex abusers from obtaining jobs where they would have access to children.
It also wanted a scheme whereby victims would be notified of the pending release from prison of those who had assaulted them.
Mr Neville said yesterday that he did not regard the introduction of a register "as a panacea to prevent all sexual offences against children".
"No measure can do that, but a register would be a significant step in helping gardai to track down the whereabouts of those who may be offending against children," he said. "It would also be a powerful deterrent against potential offenders.
"Amongst paedophiles, repeat offences run at an estimated rate of 95 per cent," he said. "Suffice to say that this makes a curative approach quite unrealistic. Containment and control are the appropriate approach in these circumstances."