The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) has repeated its call on the Government to introduce a vetting system for people who work with children.
The call comes following the conviction and sentencing yesterday of a psychiatric nurse who made pornographic videos with children from the ages of four to 13.
The man had previous child abuse convictions from outside the State and the case highlights serious deficiencies in child protection, monitoring and vetting procedures, the organisation said.
Patrick Finbar Murphy (58), from Lower Beechwood Avenue, Ranelagh, but originally from Killarney, admitted three counts of using a child for sexual exploitation and was sentenced to six years in prison yesterday.
Murphy had previously been convicted of possessing indecent photographs in London and jailed for four months in 1995.
The following year he was jailed for 18 months on three charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy.
"While the ISPCC greatly welcomes the introduction of the Sex Offenders Act which introduces strict monitoring procedures for those convicted of child abuse offences, the lack of an adequate vetting procedure for those who work with children still places children at substantial risk," an ISPCC statement said.
The statement said that there was a need for standardised procedures across Europe to assess and manage sex offenders "alongside clear protocols on the exchange of information between police forces" from different jurisdictions.
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