James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is an extraterritorial Bill. People do not have to cross a particular line to be charged with this. It is an extraterritorial Bill. If they let someone die, as potentially happened in Wexford, they can be charged with manslaughter or even murder. I would expect additional charges will be brought against those people and rightly so.

The purpose of this Bill is to ensure those who are smuggling, who are taking advantage of vulnerable people and who are putting lives at risk can face conviction for what they are doing. We have put a very broad defence in the Bill, if it was ever actually needed, to ensure that people or organisations acting for humanitarian assistance will not end up being convicted. However, we have to be very careful so that in protecting those who are acting out of good intentions, we are not actually creating a risk to those who are at risk of being smuggled by creating a situation where smugglers feel they are acting risk-free.

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