Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

This is a very important debate. I will be supporting Deputy Connolly's amendments, both in terms of providing the House with the statistics on prosecutions but also with regard to the protection of smuggled persons from prosecutions from the act of being smuggled. The Bill is silent on the rights of smuggled persons - victims - and that is wrong. I have no doubt that fear of prosecution or deportation is deterring victims from coming forward to report those who smuggled or trafficked them. Statistics released to Aontú are startling. I credit Luke Silke for the work he has done on this. These statistics were provided by the Department of Justice in the past week. They show that in the past decade there have been 1,000 offences for sexual exploitation or trafficking of persons before the courts. Shockingly, the vast majority of these cases relate to the sexual exploitation of children and, incredibly, of these 1,000 cases, a mere three people have been convicted in a District Court.

It would be fair to say this is not the full picture. For those where charges have been brought against persons, there are many others who never see the light of day or remain undetected by gardaí. There has to be an answer to that crisis that is happening in Ireland. This is happening in real time. It is happening in every town and city in the country where children are being trafficked into this country and are being sexually exploited. It is barbaric and it demands a far more rigorous response from this Chamber and from this Government. We need to strengthen the laws, not only on smuggling but also on trafficking. Unfortunately, given that Government has already indicated its opposition to these amendments, many smuggled persons will refrain from reporting offences because they are afraid they will face prosecution or deportation as a result of coming forward, and that means that many of these terrible crimes will continue. I urge the Government to support these amendments.

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