A loophole which allowed sex offenders to slip off the police radar by declaring themselves homeless is to be closed.
Justice Secretary MacAskill said new laws, if supported by his fellow MSPs in the Scottish Parliament, will make sure registered offenders have to report to authorities weekly, daily, or even hourly.
It is understood that new measures will be outlined next year, with a law possibly coming into force in 2010.
The issue was first raised three years ago in a report to the Labour-led Scottish Executive by Professor George Irving.
Under current rules, offenders must give an address. However, it has been reported that homeless offenders have passed on details of libraries, job centres and even a cemetery instead.
Mr MacAskill said he could not reveal the total number of sex offenders currently registered as homeless in Scotland.
Conservative justice spokesman Bill Aitken said: "It is astonishing and worrying that it has taken three years for this loophole to be closed. The previous Labour and Liberal Democrat executive and the current SNP government need to explain why."
