Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I welcome the debate on this hugely important issue. I thank Fine Gael for tabling the motion. I also wish to thank the Immigrant Council of Ireland for its work in bringing to the fore the issue of sexual trafficking. This matter does not get the attention it deserves in public discourse. Trafficking in people is a terrible, clandestine crime. Its victims are invariably in a weaker position to access the State's support services. There are language barriers, unfamiliarity with surroundings, shame and fear.

The Government's response is not lacking in many areas, but there is more we can do. The establishment of the trafficking victims' unit is part of the legislative response that has been put in place. In many ways, it is a good response. It could have happened earlier, but it represents clear progress in this area. As we look towards the passing and enactment of the Immigration (Residency and Protection) Bill, more must be done to tackle this issue in more detail. We need to examine the extension of the period of recovery and reflection during which victims of trafficking may reside in the State. I welcome the announcement that it will increase from 45 to 60 days under the terms of the Bill before us. The Green Party has had many meetings with the Minister and his officials on this and many other points in the Bill.

There have been calls to decouple the procedure by which someone is granted temporary residency, based on whether he or she complies with a Garda investigation. This merits further consideration. Some people have expressed concern that this could become a pull factor for illegal immigrants in that they would lie about being trafficked in order to get residency. The facts do not bear this out, however. I note the remarks by Kathleen Fahy, the director of Ruhama - an organisation which is dealing with victims of sex trafficking and prostitution - that this was not its experience. She said the victims they encounter are not making up their stories.

There is a major role for An Garda Síochána in raising awareness of human trafficking. Training is ongoing but more needs to be done to develop policies in this area. The subtlety with which a member of An Garda Síochána listens to someone's story and looks for evidence of trafficking is crucial in order to raise the victim's plight. Training in awareness needs to be given a much more forensic focus so that we can rely more upon the ability of those in the frontline to detect signs of trafficking and address them on the ground. The reports from NGOs state that we can improve our act in this regard.

I wish to draw attention to two issues. The first concerns inspecting premises used to house people who are waiting for their immigration cases to be determined. We need better inspections to detect the signs of human trafficking. The second point concerns the website established across Europe. In Ireland's case it is blueblindfold.gov.ie, which is a tangible initiative to assist members of the public, victims, NGOs and others to focus clearly on the matter. I commend Fine Gael on tabling the motion. Good work is being done by the Government but as circumstances change economically, socially and legislatively we need to up our act and be at the cutting edge of the European response to this issue.

See this speech in context