Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

Over the past 18 months, newspapers have carried headlines such as "Girl (12) taken into care in trafficking investigation", "Chinese restaurant owner linked to 34 missing children", "Nigerian girl trafficked for sex trade goes missing from HSE", "Lithuanian 'trafficker' agrees to extradition" and "Leaders of trafficking gang face 15 years in jail on exploitation charges".

Human trafficking is the third most lucrative illicit business in the world after arms and drug trafficking. Trafficking is a hidden crime. Its victims cannot or dare not make themselves known to the authorities for fear of retaliation or because they are illegal immigrants. A common feature of many victims of trafficking is that their home countries are poor and there are few opportunities for employment. The groups most vulnerable to this crime are those of low status, without powerful protectors - typically women and children, especially orphans or those subject to domestic violence - in addition to impoverished men and those in debt bondage.

Many of the trafficked adults are deceived about the type of work they will be doing and may be charged exorbitant fees by agencies for arranging work. When they arrive, they are tricked or intimidated into surrendering their travel documents and either forced into prostitution or subjected to forced labour.

The types of legitimate work that women think they are being recruited to do include jobs in the restaurant trade, domestic work, child-minding or accountancy. They may also be promised education or training opportunities. Some women know they may have to work as prostitutes for a while, but they have no idea of the violence and degradation to which they will be subjected. Many children or their families think they are opting for a better life with better education and employment opportunities, sometimes within a private foster family.

Many of the victims are held in what is an invisible prison. They are in a foreign country with no language skills and are vulnerable as a result. The same mechanisms of domestic violence have been used down through the generations in this country and elsewhere. Such victims are often raped in order to test them out initially. In some cases they are offered to the trafficker's friends to cultivate them in the trade of prostitution.

In its 2009 "Trafficking in Persons Report", the US State Department kept Ireland in the second of three performance tiers, based on an assessment of its record in prosecuting offenders, protecting victims and preventing abuses. That report stated: "the Government of Ireland does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking .... Although Ireland made significant strides, there was no evidence that trafficking offenders were prosecuted or convicted during the reporting period, and concerns remained about victim identification and protection."

The report came 12 months after the enactment of the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008. Ireland's approach to tackling sex trafficking has been piecemeal to date. During the summer, I welcomed the publication of the Government's anti-human trafficking plan, which I hope will tackle the proliferation of sex trafficking into Ireland's €180-million illegal sex industry. Ireland must enforce its legislation and put support services in place for victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation as a matter of urgency.

Fine Gael is calling on the Government to put a comprehensive strategy in place to deal with the proliferation of trafficking here and through Ireland into the UK and other parts of Europe. Four specific aspects need to be dealt with if we are to address this question successfully: prosecutions; accommodation; legislation in place concerning the prostitution industry; and child trafficking.

The Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 is significant legislation. It provides for the first time that a trafficked victim is not guilty of any offence and also that the purchaser of sex can be, in certain circumstances, guilty of an offence. However, the major problem with the legislation's enforcement is in the identification of a person as a victim of trafficking. While I welcome the publication of the anti-human trafficking plan, which hopefully will tackle the proliferation of such activity, there are no clear policies or guidelines to identify a woman as being trafficked or what happens to women who have been identified as being sex-trafficked. To date, Ireland has not yet convicted anyone of trafficking.

It is difficult to investigate, prosecute and convict perpetrators of all types of organised crime, but even more so for a hidden crime like human trafficking with its confused and scared victims. However, we are starting to see some progress on enforcing the legislation. Some 16 months after the enactment of the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act, there have been 73 investigations into potential trafficking, as identified by the Garda Síochána. Of those, at least 14 are minors and 11 of the 73 have been granted a period of recovery and reflection. Some 90% of the 73 cases of potential victims of human trafficking are being investigated on the basis of sexual exploitation, according to information provided by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. A number of files have gone to the DPP who must decide whether to prosecute. One case currently before the courts involves the trafficking of a child for sexual exploitation.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau's anti-trafficking unit relies on information provided through non-governmental organisations, the public or coming across a brothel in the day-to-day investigations of An Garda Síochána. The unit should be more proactive in identifying suspicious activity and confronting it head-on.

Human trafficking needs to be viewed through the prism of organised crime. Detective Inspector Jonas Trolle of the Stockholm police said that trafficking and prostitution are always connected with organised crime. Germany and Holland, which have legalised prostitution, are legitimising the income of these organised crime groups. It is imperative that the organised crime section of An Garda Síochána is mandated to deal with human trafficking as well as the victims of this crime.

In May this year, the 21st report of the Independent Monitoring Commission stated that Continuity IRA members continue to be involved in a large range of serious criminal activity, including brothel keeping. The issue is clearly linked to organised crime. Subversive elements that have sought to undermine the State in the past have now become involved in this area.

They feel there is money to be made in the industry. It is important that the organised crime unit of the Garda focus on the industry and on the issue of trafficking. It is also important that clear protocols on the policing of brothels be put in place and that gardaí be trained to be aware of the vulnerability of victims and to realise some may be undocumented. We spoke at length in recent debates on undocumented victims coming to the attention of the Garda. Victims are severely traumatised in many cases. The 60-day period is too short for them to recover sufficiently to make an informed decision about co-operating with An Garda Síochána.

Fundamental to the protection of victims is the provision of safe and secure accommodation. It is interesting to read in a report issued last December that one in five women discovered in suspected brothels leaves the country. It is imperative that these women, some of whom are the victims of trafficking, remain here to assist the Garda in the collation of evidence that can be given in court to secure convictions against the traffickers. Thus, traffickers can be put behind bars once and for all. In this context, it is imperative that we do not view trafficking as an immigration crime coupled with the facilitation of smuggling people into the country. The latter is a different issue.

The victims of trafficking may not necessarily be from outside the European Union. There were a number of incidents in the past in which victims who approached the non-governmental organisations turned out to be citizens of the European Union. They require the same level of protection from traffickers as victims from outside the Union. It is imperative that we do not view them purely as illegal immigrants. If we do, we are further exploiting them. We should not guarantee them permanent residency in this country. Doing so would seriously compromise the ability to have successful prosecutions but we need to put in place a sensible and practical period for recovery and reflection. Such a period would help victims recover from their terrible ordeal and give them an opportunity to reflect on what they should do next. Fundamental to this is the provision of safe accommodation.

I disagree fundamentally with the Minister's anti-trafficking plan in respect of accommodation. Provision is made in the anti-trafficking plan for the Reception and Integration Agency to cater for the victims of trafficking. It is wrong to place the victims with this agency. Asylum centres are revolving doors for victims of trafficking. There are numerous documented cases of children placed in the care of the HSE who have disappeared from the asylum accommodation in which they were placed. Even the Minister's report and the evidence he has given to the House suggest that 70% of the potential victims of trafficking identified by the Garda have been either children in HSE care or asylum seekers. It is clear the asylum system is regarded as a soft touch for the trafficking of people into Ireland. We cannot allow victims identified in brothels or labour exploitation to be returned to the same centres from which they were trafficked in the first instance. This is their great fear. Unless we provide accommodation such as that provided under the Sonas housing initiative, whose staff have the skills set to cater for the victims of trafficking, we will not secure the number and types of convictions we desire.

It is interesting to note that figures published recently by the Galway Rape Crisis Centre indicate one in five victims who report rape and abuse are asylum seekers. There is substantial anecdotal evidence to show the rape of women in asylum centres is being used as a mechanism to groom them for the prostitution industry. It is fundamental that we send out a clear message that our asylum process is not a soft touch for human traffickers and that we address, once and for all, the issue of the placing of the victims of trafficking back into asylum centres. We must provide proper and adequate accommodation for victims.

The Sonas Housing Association is well capable of dealing with the needs of victims. It is prepared to provide the assistance and accommodation that is needed. If we are to send out a clear message that Ireland is no longer a soft touch regarding human trafficking, we must put women into secure accommodation such that they will be prepared subsequently to assist the Garda and give evidence in court to secure convictions.

It is important that the brief of the anti-trafficking unit in the Department be extended to included migrant women in prostitution. The report of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Globalisation, Sex Trafficking and Prostitution, published in April 2009, indicates a minimum of 102 women and girls have been clearly identified as sex trafficked into the country in 2007 and 2008. Eleven of them were children. The only way the Government can fill the data gap so it can ascertain the full extent of the problem in Ireland is to have the anti-trafficking plan allow for the extension of the unit to include migrant women in prostitution. This could provide a source of very valuable information allowing the Government to learn exactly what is taking place. The Minister's evidence that 90% of potential victims are in the industry in the first place should be one of our focal points.

The anti-human trafficking plan contains no reference to funding for educational advertising and promotion campaigns on trafficking aimed at migrant communities. While funding has been provided in the past, we need serious and significant ring-fenced funding targeted specifically to bring the dangers of trafficking to the attention of migrant communities and others. We must tackle this issue head-on and explain that those who avail of the services of trafficked prostitutes are sponsoring organised crime and the trafficking of more women into this country.

The Immigrant Council of Ireland produced very important research stating 970 of the 1,000 women involved in the indoor sex industry in Ireland are migrant women. Our immigration legislation is being undermined by traffickers exploiting loopholes in the legislation and policing practices to bring women here for the sex industry.

There is currently a clampdown on prostitution in Norway and Sweden. The authorities have criminalised the buying of sex. As a consequence, the industry has moved out of those countries into some of the other Nordic countries. Last week, the UK House of Commons passed a Bill that will target the demand end of the industry. The legislation will make it an offence to pay for sex from a person who is subjected by a third party to force, threat or any other form of coercion. The offence is a strict liability offence. In other words, it will not be a defence to say one did not know the prostitute was being forced to engage in prostitution. This, in reality, will mean the industry will move from Britain and Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland. The Scottish Parliament intends to introduce legislation next year similar to that of both Sweden and Norway in that it will criminalise the person who purchases sex.

If that were to happen, it would put further pressure on the industry across the water and push it more into this jurisdiction. Given the current ease of access into this country, we could easily become the new red light district of Europe. It is urgent that we deal with prostitution in this country and review the existing legislation because this issue is coming down the tracks at us very quickly.

The Garda states that the sex industry and trafficking rings are not a big issue in this country. It is quoted in the media as saying that it could easily close down the prostitution industry, literally overnight, because it is based on mobile telephones, which are the lifeblood of that industry. It could close the business by removing the telephone numbers from the systems. If it is that easy to close down the industry, why has it not happened to date? Why is the Garda saying the issue is not a problem in this country? A total of 1,000 women a week are involved in the indoor sex industry in this country. The majority of them are migrant women, most of whom have been trafficked into this country. I urge the Minister to urgently review the existing provisions on prostitution laws and to bring forward proposals that will clamp down on the potential exploitation and abuse of our jurisdiction.

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