Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Like others, I welcome the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) (Amendment) Bill 2013 which will expand the definition of human trafficking and ensure people are not exploited for the purposes of forced begging and criminal activity. I would like, if I may, to start by thanking people who work in Ruhama and the Migrant Rights Centre and the many others who have worked enormously hard with something that is difficult to work with, an invisible business for many people, particularly for ordinary citizens going about their daily lives. It is hard to ask people to stop and think about something they may not see. Much of the efforts of the past ten years to push this desperate problem to the point where in this House many Members who are informed and who care are queuing up to speak is due to the work the Minister of State has done and I salute her efforts.

I thank also those people who are engaged with the matter. I am proud to say I have correspondence, probably on a weekly basis, from my constituents in Sligo and Leitrim urging me always to take this matter seriously. They are ordinary people going about their work persuading others to take the issue seriously. That is due to the work the Minister of State has done and people are beginning to listen. The great dilemma is that by and large it is still invisible. It is not invisible, although much of it happens behind closed doors but for many Irish people there is still the difficulty of actually believing much of this is true and that it can happen on their own doorstep in their own towns and cities. Part of the battle that we all share is the visibility level. While there are many stories, case studies and statistics it is still difficult for people to accept and believe that this is happening. In many ways I think it is down to the word "trafficking".