Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. The annual report of the anti-human trafficking unit reveals that this is a problem in our country. We noted there were 64 victims of human trafficking in 2018 and of them, 51 were recorded as having occurred within this jurisdiction. We are talking about individuals, specifically women who have been trafficked into this country for sexual purposes or men who are abused in the workplace by not being given any of the protections afforded to the rest of us as workers under the law.

It is very important for us to note there have been very limited prosecutions in this country. I note the Minister's comments regarding the difficulty of prosecuting these cases, particularly where there are victims who are not prepared to co-operate or who may find it very difficult to co-operate because of a fear they will get into further trouble if they give evidence against persons who have trafficked them. What happened in Essex is a wake-up call for us and we must recognise that our obligations really must continue to apply. We must be more vigorous in ensuring we comply with those obligations.

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