Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

It is with pleasure I welcome this vital legislation before the House today. However, the Bill is not as far-reaching as I had hoped. There is an onus on the Government to specifically provide protection for victims of human trafficking but that is completely ignored in the legislation before us today and that is very unfortunate. Currently Ireland is the only member of the European Union not to have any form of legislation relating to human trafficking so this Bill is long overdue. Nevertheless, I welcome it.

In May 2006, after the two "Prime Time Investigates" programmes which focused on the issue of human trafficking and its prevalence in Ireland, the Government made a commitment to introduce legislation to address the issue. I am disappointed it took 18 months for that to become a reality, although it is positive that it has now been brought forward. Human trafficking is a massive international criminal industry, involving prostitution, sexual exploitation and labour exploitation and is something to which we, as an island, have become particularly vulnerable. We have become a target for human trafficking in recent years, particularly the past decade. Many people in Ireland, particularly legislators, have turned a blind eye to the problem. It is a huge human tragedy and affects children and young adult females, who have been used as slaves and pawns in a really brutal and vicious way.

I am very pleased with certain aspects of the legislation, particularly those focusing on the penalties which will be imposed for perpetrators and those who facilitate human trafficking and carry out the practice as a major business. A penalty of life imprisonment is now guaranteed under this legislation and I am very pleased to see that. However, the failure to provide for victim protection is a major issue. Government plans to deal with trafficked victims under separate immigration legislation which we will probably not see until next year and that does not reflect the dire need to deal with the problem as a matter of priority. Immigration legislation has not been published and we do not yet know if it will incorporate full protection for victims. We have indications from Government benches that it will not and that would be a very sad reflection on how the Government views the urgency and gravity of human trafficking in Ireland at the moment.

I urge the Government either to include victim protection in this Bill, so that it is consolidated in the same legislation, which would be the logical thing to do, or to bring forward the immigration legislation which will deal with that lacuna in the law. I am sure the Minister of State is familiar with EU Council Directive 2004/81 and, in particular, Article 6, section 1 which states:

Member States shall ensure that the third country nationals concerned are granted a reflection period allowing them to recover and escape the influence of the perpetrators of the offence so that they can take an informed decision as to whether to cooperate with the competent authorities.

In essence, we in Ireland need urgently to accept that victims of human trafficking are not illegal immigrants but victims who require protection and care.

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