Several notorious rapists will be monitored after their release from prison -- despite being convicted before laws to introduce the sex-offenders register.

The revelation came as Department of Justice officials rushed to quell speculation that rapists such as Larry Murphy and John McDonagh would avoid monitoring once they are released.

Although almost all criminal legislation enacted is not retrospective, officials insisted the law allows for "limited retrospection" when it comes to sex offenders.

A department spokeswoman said that offenders already in prison when the register was introduced in September 2001 will be subject to the register when they are released.

This means that rapists like Murphy and McDonagh, who were both jailed in the months before the register was enacted, will have to provide their names and addresses to the gardai on their release.

They will also have to stay on the register for life, as is the case for all sex offenders jailed for more than two years. Murphy (43) -- a carpenter who became the prime suspect in the disappearance of several women -- was jailed for 14 years in May 2001 for the abduction, rape and attempted murder of a Co Carlow woman. The woman's life was saved when two hunters disturbed Murphy as he attempted to strangle her to death, after raping her twice, in the Wicklow Mountains.

Shane Phelan Investigative Correspondent, Independent

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