Alex White (Labour)

I move amendmentNo. 10:

In page 10, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following:

"12.—A victim of an offence under this Act shall not be prosecuted for entry into or presence in the State or for carrying out the labour or sexual acts, insofar as such entry, presence or carrying out labour or sexual acts were a consequence of the trafficking of that person.".

As the Acting Chairman rightly indicated, these are three linked amendments. By leave of the House, I will read out the amendment because it is important that we are absolutely clear about what is being proposed. Amendment No. 10 proposes that a victim of an offence under this Act shall not be prosecuted for entry into or presence in the State or for carrying out the labour or sexual acts, insofar as such entry, presence or carrying out labour or sexual acts were a consequence of the trafficking of that person. It is important to clarify that it is not a proposal to accord an amnesty to persons in all circumstances. There is no suggestion that a free for all is being advocated or that carte blanche is being extended.

What we are talking about is a measure which would put in place a regime whereby the victim could not be the subject of a prosecution in circumstances where he or she had been trafficked for the purposes of that particular activity. I am not sure what the Minister of State's response will be. I cannot remember precisely what the Minister said on the last occasion in respect of this. Again, it comes back to the question of a holistic approach, if I may dare to use that phrase again. We talk about the measure to prohibit trafficking and introduce stringent sanctions for it. We must have regard to the fact that the victim of trafficking must be protected. Is there any more important provision that would protect the person in those circumstances than a provision which says that we will not prosecute them for carrying out any of these acts in circumstances where they were trafficked to this country for that purpose? I am interested in hearing the Minister of State's reply.