Seanad debates

Tuesday, 4 February 2003

Immigration Bill 2002: Report Stage.

 

I want to make the law operable. If somebody is travelling in a vehicle unknown to its owner and the owner could not, with reasonable care, know they were on board, no crime will be committed. However, if I say that the Act does not apply to somebody, for example, towing a caravan or a similar vehicle and have a definition that excludes them from the operation, the result will be that a clandestinely smuggled people or stowaways coming through the system will somehow be exempt if they travel in vehicles that are not covered by the Act. The target of the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act is those who knowingly, and for gain, smuggle people into the State. It has potentially very severe penalties for those who do so with bad mind.

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