Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil supports the Bill which builds on the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 that we introduced. The scourge of human trafficking must be directly challenged by a well resourced Garda Síochána on an internationally co-ordinated basis. The Bill implements relevant European Union directives and hardens penalties for public officers engaged in trafficking. It also broadens the definition of forced labour to encompass criminal activities and forced begging, thereby recognising the complexity of modern international criminality. This richer definition of human trafficking reflects the need to fight modern slavery in all its forms.

The Bill expands the definition of human trafficking and clarifies definitions across a number of areas. It deals primarily with human trafficking for labour exploitation rather than sexual exploitation. The changes aim to ensure people are not exploited for the purposes of forced begging or trafficking for criminal activities. This change will bring our legislation into full compliance with the relevant EU directive. The Bill defines what is meant by forced labour in a context where the principal Act criminalised forced labour but did not fully define it. The new definition is based on the International Labour Organization, ILO, definition of forced labour. This marks a step forward in the battle to eradicate slavery in all its modern forms. The Bill also provides that public officials who are found guilty of certain trafficking offences in the course of their public duties will face harsher sentences than will private individuals convicted of the same offences.

The EU reports that 23,632 people were identified as trafficked or presumed victims of trafficking in the Union in the period from 2008 to 2010. Approximately one quarter of these victims were trafficked for the purposes of labour exploitation. In Ireland 11 cases of labour trafficking were reported to the authorities in 2011. The European Union has calculated the number of identified and presumed trafficking victims per 100,000 inhabitants for each EU country. The figure for Ireland is 1.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, while the EU total is calculated at two per 100,000. This shows the scale of the problem and the pressing need for action.

The 2010 report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime states 79% of identified victims of human trafficking worldwide were subject to sexual exploitation, 18% to forced labour and 3% to other forms of exploitation. The International Labour Organization estimated that there were 880,000 victims of forced labour in the European Union in 2012. According to that organisation, some 40% of trafficking takes place for the purposes of forced commercial sexual exploitation, one third for other forms of forced economic exploitation and one quarter for a mixture of these or undetermined reasons. The EU report covering the years from 2008 to 2012 shows that women and girls are the main victims of trafficking in human beings. Female victims accounted for 79% of the total, of whom 12% were girls; and male victims for 21%, of whom 3% were boys. Most member states reported that the majority of victims in their jurisdiction came from within the European Union itself.

It is difficult to estimate with any degree of accuracy the number of people being trafficked into Ireland and within Ireland for the purposes of forced labour, sexual exploitation or both. It is very likely that a majority of trafficking cases will not come to the attention of the authorities. Migrant Rights Centre Ireland which has dealt with over 180 cases of forced labour in the past six years identifies that it is a growing problem in this country. It describes forced labour as an extreme form of exploitation which "involves deception, coercion, threats or actual physical harm, and debt bondage". The State, however, has yet to prosecute and convict any trafficking offender, as defined by international standards, on foot of the 2008 anti-trafficking law.

The US State Department, in its annual international review of human trafficking, recommended that Ireland take action along the lines set out in the Bill. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's special representative and co-ordinator for combating trafficking in human beings visited Ireland in February 2012 and her subsequent report commended our very dynamic anti-trafficking policy. Ireland has, in a short period of time, developed good practices based on a human rights approach and good governance, in line with OSCE commitments and other international standards.

The anti-human trafficking unit, AHTU, established in the Department of Justice and Equality in February 2008 is working to ensure the Irish response to human trafficking is co-ordinated, comprehensive and holistic. A key element of this strategy is the national action plan to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings in Ireland for 2009 to 2012, which was published by the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in June 2009. In addition to the AHTU, there are three other dedicated units in separate State agencies dealing with this issue, namely, the human trafficking investigation and co-ordination unit of the Garda National Immigration Bureau, the anti-human trafficking team in the Health Service Executive and the specialised human trafficking legal team at the Legal Aid Board.

The review of Ireland's human trafficking strategy points to the need to improve the rate of prosecutions and convictions. It also highlights the difficulties experienced by all states in doing so and the challenges in prosecuting cases. Detection is difficult, in the first instance, because it is a clandestine activity. Another factor is the reluctance of victims to contact authorities, with fear of being returned to their home country and poor previous experiences with law enforcement in home countries being cited among the reasons for this. In addition, cases are often extremely complex and difficult to prove in court.

It is clear that the Garda must be effectively resourced to tackle the main problems with Ireland's human trafficking strategy. It is vital that the Government retain a focus on the issue in the coming years. We are fully supportive of the measures contained in the Bill.

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