The Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, has come under attack from the Right to Bail Campaign (RTBC) for saying the amendment was needed to help protect children from paedophiles.
The RTBC said the number of sex offences committed by people on bail was negligible and raising it at this was "a red herring". Instead of using the issue of child sex abuse as a "political football", the Minister should be initiating "proper follow up treatment" for sex offenders, the RTBC said.