Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The issue of rural crime has been occupying a great deal of colleagues' time recently and has undoubtedly caused a significant amount of public concern. In that regard, I welcome the Government's investment in the provision of Garda cars and the return to Garda recruitment, which was stopped under the previous Government. It is very important to note the turnaround that is being made. In addition, new legislation is coming forward on this issue. I remind colleagues that the justice committee will have a hearing on rural crime at 9.30 a.m. tomorrow in the course of which we will tease out some of the issues Members have raised.

I welcome the news today that the unemployment rate has fallen to 9.3%, down from 10.6% this time last year. This means the number of people out of work has fallen by nearly 25,000 in the past 12 months. It is very significant progress to have moved from the crisis peak of unemployment at 15.1% to this new low. That progress is very welcome, although the rate remains too high.

I welcome the signing into law last week by the Presidential Commission of the Marriage Bill 2015. This means we will see the first weddings of gay couples in Ireland in the coming months, which is very welcome. I am disappointed, however, as are many others, that the DUP has used its powers to block the development that took place in the Northern Ireland Assembly whereby, for the first time, a majority of MLAs - 53 to 52 - voted in favour of a change in the law. I hope we will see progress on marriage equality in the North.

I expect Senator Susan O'Keeffe and others will join me in raising concerns regarding the year-long investigation by The Guardianinto the Irish fishing sector which points to the use of migrant workers as cheap labour. A catalogue of abuses is documented in that newspaper today, including workers being confined to vessels, being paid less than half the Irish minimum wage, being subjected to extreme sleep deprivation and so on. Clearly, although we have strong criminal law prohibiting human trafficking either for sexual or labour exploitation, enforcement is a difficulty. In that context, I welcome the Blue Blindfold initiative, which asks people to watch out for indicators of human trafficking. I welcome, too, the announcement by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, that spot checks will be put in place to identify undocumented workers. I call for a debate on this issue.