Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

While I accept that it would be a departure from what we are expected to pass, we should always strive towards having the best possible legislation even though it may be ahead of other EU countries. EU laws and other international conventions are based on what can be achieved as a consensus between the countries. That would not prevent any country going beyond those laws and conventions, once the definitions include exactly what was agreed at European level. I have given two examples, but people who are even more averse to trafficking and people who are the victims of trafficking would be able to give other examples of trafficking, such as trafficking for welfare fraud or for other types of financial gain. These examples would not cover the position in which the seven year old English girl Victoria Climbie found herself.

I still believe that my amendment should be accepted. This Bill is long overdue but it is welcome. Given that we are tackling this properly, we should try to ensure that as many eventualities are covered for the future so that we do not end up in a situation where people evade the full rigours of the law. Child neglect is a way of prosecuting somebody, as is benefit fraud, but they do not cover the specifics of the trafficking offence. We can prosecute in a number of areas under different laws and I think we need to prosecute people for the offence of trafficking. Hopefully that is what will happen with this Bill if this amendment is accepted or if some other mechanism is found to cover the eventualities I mentioned.

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