Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

This provision is a big step forward. I recall saying from the Opposition side of the Dáil over a number of years that it was of crucial importance that victims of human trafficking should have access to legal assistance and advice. The Bill puts this in statutory form in a manner that also allows us to comply with international obligations.

I thank Senators for their contributions. The existing legal aid system does not exclude people from obtaining legal advice who qualify for it on other civil matters. The legal aid system operated by the Legal Aid Board is, essentially, intended to provide legal assistance in the civil law area. The Bill extends this into providing legal advice to those who are the victims of human trafficking so they are made fully aware of the law applicable, of the assistance they can give to An Garda Síochána, of what will occur should a prosecution take place and of the court processes.

The provision does not go beyond that. We do not generally provide legal advice through Government law centres to all victims of criminal offences. We do not have the resources to do that. At a time when resources are stretched I am conducting a battle, as Minister, to try to ensure that adequate resources are available to the current law centres, which are substantially under-resourced since the budget of last December, introduced by the previous Government. Our current difficulty in the law centres is as a consequence of the economic recession and the huge number unemployed, which is just below 450,000. A substantial additional number of people are seeking legal aid in civil matters through law centres, particularly in the areas of family law and domestic violence. In some law centres there is, unfortunately, a substantial delay in people getting access to legal advice because of the pressures the centres are under due to the lack of resources as a consequence of last year's budget and the huge additional numbers seeking assistance. We are looking at how we can address that issue in a manner that ensures that people who need to gain access to civil legal aid do so.

There are not sufficient resources to provide additional assistance through this legal aid scheme beyond what we are providing here. This is a new and important right. The Bill grants the right to victims of human trafficking who are co-operating with An Garda Síochána to obtain legal advice. During the debate on Second Stage some Senators raised the issue of legal representation in the criminal courts during a prosecution that ensues as a result of human trafficking and I explained on that occasion that, under our criminal system, the DPP prosecutes on behalf of the State, the defendant is legally represented and, by and large, witnesses and victims are not represented. I acknowledge that with regard to certain sexual offences, assistance by way of advice is given to victims but this is a separate and discrete area. I do not have the capacity to extend this beyond what I am doing, but what I am doing is an important step forward and I hope Senators will support it.