Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We will support the Bill, which will transpose an EU directive and EU legislation. I have spoken many times about the criminal confraternity and the high level of interconnectivity within crime. To a degree, criminals have at times been miles ahead of where the legislative or investigative process and our capacity as a State or as states have needed to be. We absolutely recognise the need to do this.

People smuggling, obviously, happens across borders, so we welcome the fact this measure will apply throughout the European Union. Of course, two jurisdictions share this island. Deputy Martin Kenny mentioned the scandalous situation that arose in October 2019, when 39 Vietnamese people lost their lives in a brutal way. It was a people-smuggling operation that did not view those who were trafficked as anything other than a means of making money. It was a heinous way of looking at human life. This can be very difficult to contemplate.

I imagine other Deputies will outline the connection of people smuggling with other levels of crime. We have heard examples of people having been smuggled into this country who have been forced into prostitution, not necessarily knowing what they were entering into when they left their home country or what the circumstances would be. There have been cases of people being forced into positions of being involved in growhouses or other criminal enterprises. It goes without saying that somebody who is willing to risk people's lives and smuggle them will be willing to move anything else that might be considered, given that it all comes down to money.

We need to ensure we have all the powers necessary for dealing with this. As Deputy Kenny said, we need a best practice framework. In the case of designated organisations, we need to ensure due diligence will be carried out in order that we will in no way allow them to operate under some sort of cover. Furthermore, we must ensure we give protections to those people doing the right thing and facilitating people who are, in some cases, leaving dreadful, war-torn scenarios. When people end up here having left terrible situations, probably via a terrible journey and being used and abused by brutal criminals, we need to ensure we have all the tools necessary to engage with them. Sometimes these people hide in plain sight and operate on the periphery of our society. We need to ensure, therefore, that we have all the tools to enable us to see where this is happening in order that we can address it insofar as possible.

As Deputy Kenny said in the context of the processing of asylum seekers, additional resources are needed, whether for the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, INIS, or the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation. All Deputies will have dealt with these issues, submitted parliamentary questions and had that over and back with the authorities. Sometimes it has taken a hell of a lot longer than might have been anticipated and, in many cases, we have not got to the point we would have wanted quickly enough. I accept that there can be additional issues in some cases the authorities deal with, where they relate to asylum seekers and so on, but we need a system that is compassionate and can address these issues insofar as possible. If additional resourcing is required, that needs to happen.

I expect all Deputies will support the Bill. It stems from a recognition that we need every available weapon to deal with those people who engage in this brutal practice of the smuggling of persons, with which international criminality in all its forms is deeply connected. I assume people who engage in this practice will engage also in moving materials without whose presence on the streets of Dublin, Dundalk or any other towns and villages on this island we would be much happier. We need to ensure we have all the tools required. We need whatever legislation is required to ensure we can operate effectively and deal with the international facets of this and any technical difficulties that might arise. We must do what is necessary to protect people who are being abused and not leave any room for these criminal gangs. I imagine all Deputies will be in agreement and we just need this to happen as soon as possible. There must be due diligence in regard to how it operates and the necessary protections must be put in place as soon as possible.

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