Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Costello for raising this important issue as it gives me an opportunity to speak on the Tánaiste's plans in this regard. Before doing so and to allay concerns that the current criminal law governing trafficking and sexual offences may be inadequate, I will outline some of the more important legislative provisions that can be used to protect victims of trafficking.

There can be no doubt that trafficking in human beings is a form of modern slavery. It is a growing international crime that has become a major business for organised crime groups and networks. I want to make it clear that action is being taken to combat this crime and that it is being taken seriously by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Garda Síochána.

A standing committee on human trafficking has been established in the Department comprising representatives of it and the Garda. It published its first report last May. The report set out the position in Ireland and the State's response to the issue of trafficking, including immigration controls, law enforcement activity, protection of victims and legislation.

Currently, the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 criminalises the trafficking of children into, through or out of Ireland for the purpose of their sexual exploitation. The offence is punishable by a sentence of up to life imprisonment. The Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000 created a new criminal offence of trafficking in illegal immigrants and provided a framework by which those engaging in the trafficking of illegal immigrants could be dealt with under the law. The penalty for the offence of trafficking in illegal immigrants on conviction is a maximum of ten years imprisonment with the further possibility of forfeiture of vehicles used for trafficking. Persons involved in people trafficking will invariably commit other offences, often the most serious sexual offences such as rape, and can be charged with those offences.

The 2000 Act does not distinguish between people smuggling and people trafficking, but there is a significant difference between them. For example, a person being smuggled co-operates with the trafficker generally whereas in trafficking in adults, there is an element of force, fraud or coercion. Trafficked persons are victims while smuggled persons are complicit in the smuggling crime. Trafficked persons will often be enslaved, subjected to limited movement or isolation or have documents confiscated.

For that reason, the Tánaiste has prepared legislation that will create specific offences of trafficking for exploitative purposes. It will provide a clear legislative distinction between trafficking and smuggling with higher penalties for persons convicted of trafficking. Last July, the Tánaiste obtained Government approval for the drafting of his proposals and these are now being drafted in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. The general scheme of the Bill, called the criminal law (trafficking in persons and sexual offences) Bill, as approved by Government, is on the Department's website and I will not go into too much detail on its contents. It creates new offences of trafficking in persons into, through or out of Ireland for the purposes of sexual or labour exploitation or the removal of organs. All these terms are defined in the Bill. It also criminalises the sale of children, including on the Internet, for the same purposes. The provisions of the Bill fully comply with the requirements of all international instruments on trafficking. As this is a criminal law Bill, it only deals with the criminal law aspects of trafficking. On the protection of victims, it is intended, as part of the new immigration policy framework, to provide a clear policy statement setting out how trafficking cases can be managed once it is established trafficking has taken place. I emphasise, however, that the lack of a specific legislative provision on the victims of trafficking has in no way reduced Ireland's commitment to dealing sympathetically with cases as they arise.

I again thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue.

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