Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

Amendments which I introduced on Committee Stage created an offence of soliciting or importuning a trafficked person for the purpose of prostitution. I am advised by the Parliamentary Counsel, who drafted the amendment, that the definition of "trafficked person" used in those amendments might — I would not put it any stronger than this — give rise to some confusion as to the meaning of "trafficked person". By deleting the meaning of "trafficked person" used in the Committee Stage amendments for the purpose of the new Section 6 and redrafting the meaning given to that term in Section 6, any such confusion can be removed.

Briefly, as previously drafted, the trafficked person who was solicited for the purpose of prostitution could be interpreted as not necessarily being the trafficked person in respect of whom an offence was committed under section 5. I recommend this drafting amendment to the House.