Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

I am coming to that point. The Deputy spoke about young people who came to Ireland after people from their own countries applied on their behalf for visas for them. When such people were taken into this country, they were checked to ensure all their paperwork and documentation was in order. Nobody was aware that the children in question were to be exploited at a later stage. Such behaviour is a criminal offence under our laws. As we speak, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who responded to Deputy Allen when this matter was raised previously, is preparing legislation to deal with these issues. He intends to ensure that no loophole can be utilised in future and that people cannot be exploited in future. The European Union is at one on this issue. We are totally committed to ensuring that human trafficking does not take place here. The House can be assured that this country's system of passport control is very tight. The problems which have been mentioned tend to develop after the passport control stage. The issues in question are not related to the operation of our passport control system.

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