Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The purpose of this amendment is to extend the meaning of trafficking into any activity which could be described as exploitation as long as the exploitation is carried out for the purpose of financial gain. On Committee Stage, I indicated I was not disposed to extending the purposes for which a person could be trafficked beyond those established in the relevant international instruments on trafficking.

It is important for the purposes of international co-operation, extradition and agreement on what amounts to trafficking to stay within the confines of the meaning given to trafficking in the relevant international instruments. Indeed, the draft EU Council conclusions on trafficking in human beings unequivocally states that member states prepare and implement national and comprehensive action plans against trafficking in human beings adopting as a common definition the one existing in the Council Framework Decision on combatting trafficking in human beings. I see no valid reason Ireland should break ranks and go our own way on how we prepare our legislation on trafficking in human beings.

The reality of these offences is that a high degree of international co-operation will be necessary for their successful prosecution, investigation and detection. It is important that we stay within the international framework.

I do not understand why Deputy Ó Snodaigh has tabled the amendment. I am not convinced that this amendment will make any practical difference. A provision was included in the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000, under which it was necessary to prove that a person was smuggled into Ireland for gain. This has made it difficult. The requirement to put in "for gain" has made it difficult to bring prosecutions under that legislation.

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