Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy has said the investigation into childcare academic, Dr Niall McElwee, would study the technical nature of offences committed by him in Amsterdam and his responsibilities here in relation to them.
Mr McElwee resigned from his position at Athlone Institute of Technology earlier this month after it emerged he had been convicted of attempted indecent assault in Amsterdam in 2004.
However, it has now emerged that on conviction in the Netherlands, he was obliged under the Sexual Offenders Act 2001 to inform the authorities here of any offence committed abroad which would also be deemed a criminal offence here.
He informed neither the Garda nor his employers of the conviction and continued to work at the Athlone institute as director of its Centre for Child and Youth Care Learning.
"We are looking at all of those matters and if somebody commits an offence or we suspect an offence is committed we will be sending a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions."
The Garda Commissioner was speaking at a passing-out ceremony at the Garda Training College, Templemore, Co Tipperary.
The Athlone institute recruited Mr McElwee in 2001. Three years later he was in Amsterdam carrying out research when he was involved in an incident in a hotel room with four American teenagers aged between 15 and 18.
He propositioned one woman for sexual favours and got into bed with another when semi-naked.
Mr McElwee was convicted in Amsterdam a year later on two counts of attempted indecent assault. He only informed Athlone of his past earlier this month when threatened with exposure in the media.
When news of his resignation broke, it was disclosed that a Garda sergeant was part of Mr McElwee's travelling party to Amsterdam. The group was in the Netherlands to carry out research into illicit drug use and treatment options.
The Garda sergeant became aware of the incident within hours and gave assistance to the Dutch authorities. He made the Garda authorities aware of what had taken place and met a representative of the former Midland Health Board and informed him of the incident.
However, AIT was not informed nor was it informed in 2001 when hiring Mr McElwee that he had been the subject of a warning from the HSE while working as a lecturer at Waterford Institute of Technology. The warning was issued after one of his students complained when he showed his class pictures of naked children who had been sexually abused.
Minister for Children Brendan Smith has already ordered an inquiry.