Donegal Fianna Fail Senator Cecilia Keaveney has welcomed the move this week by the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern TD and his Northern counterpart, Paul Goggins MP, to formalise the procedures relating to the cross-border sharing of information on sex offenders.
“There has always been in informal agreement between authorities on the North and South of the border to work together on these and other matters, but Paul Goggins MP and Minister Ahern met in Dublin this week to formalise the situation,” said Senato
r Keaveney.
“The Garda Siochana and the Police Service of Northern Ireland have now signed an agreement on the sharing of personal data in relation to the investigation of sexual offences and the monitoring of sex offenders. By sharing this information, the governments and police services on both sides of sides of the border are working to increase the protection afforded to the public, particularly young people.”
Under the new agreement signed this week information will be shared on people who are subject to the notification requirements of the Irish Sex Offenders Act 2001 and the UK Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Senator Keaveney said she fully supports any measures for increased cross-border co-operation. “I will continue to work with my colleagues in Government in investigating how we can further improve our co-operation and to harmonise, where possible, the legislative requirements for sex offender notification.”
She concluded: “The Gardai and the PSNI are continuing to work together to track the activities of dissident groups and this is very important as well. There is no room for complacency when it comes to this kind of activity.”
The full article contains 280 words and appears in Journal Friday newspaper.
