Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I, too, want to welcome the Minister of State to the House. The Labour Party welcomes this Bill. It is described as technical in nature. As was said, it proposes an updating of the criminal justice aspects of the regime in respect of the smuggling of persons. It reflects the provisions of three international instruments against people smuggling. Of course, the need for this legislation is to ensure our continued compliance with the EU directives, allowing for national border control, customs, and police authorities responsible for checks at the external Schengen area border, as well as within that area. In order to circulate alerts about wanted or missing persons and objects, such as stolen vehicles and documents, we are told that compliance with these measures is required by 31 December 2021 and is a condition of continued access.

It is important to acknowledge, as the Minister of State has done, the continued great work of the NGOs in this area in protecting and assisting those vulnerable, who often find themselves isolated in a foreign country and in need of urgent assistance. It is also very important to distinguish between people smuggling and human trafficking, although as the Minister of State said, both are inevitably closely linked.That is very important in that, as has been said, the people who are smuggled owe huge debts to their smugglers, which often places them in mortal danger, as we have seen in the past.

In 2019 alone, one of the organisations the Minister of State mentioned in his introduction, Ruhama, worked with 116 victims of trafficking from 30 different countries. It does great work. Ruhama states that it has seen at first hand the detrimental impact trafficking can have on individuals and it welcomes any strengthening of the legal provisions designed to combat trafficking or people smuggling on a national legislative footing. Ruhama has worked with service users based in every county in the Republic of Ireland. It also provides training for front-line workers and those in law enforcement centred on knowing the signs of human trafficking and identifying individuals who are potential victims of human trafficking. Ruhama states that we must be under no illusion, as sex trafficking happens in every city, town and village across the country. Ruhama and other NGOs have welcomed the implementation of the UN Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, which supplements the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime through this legislation. The highly orchestrated and organised nature of the crimes associated with commercial people-smuggling cannot be overstated. The NGOs further state that it is their experience on the front line of service provision, and it is widely documented, that the provision and pursuit of human traffickers can be very complex considering the international reach of these crimes. It is vitally important to note that people who work in this area say that the operation of people smuggling is constantly changing. It is important that our legislation continues to keep pace with the vile attempts to smuggle people, which is what is before the House today.

In its 2020 report, Countering the Challenges of Human Trafficking in the Digital Era, Europol noted that information and communications technology have rapidly changed the criminal landscape, with traffickers adopting new methods and ways to recruit, control and exploit victims. Covid-19 has played a role in the changing landscape of human trafficking. Last year, the European Migrant Smuggling Centre reported that criminals are finding new ways to abuse the most vulnerable migrants wishing to travel or cross Europe and those financially struggling to be victimised into labour or sexual exploitation. It is important, as Senator Martin indicated, that in recent days we saw two five-year sentences handed down for trafficking, the first of their kind in Ireland. That is an important statement to be made by this country.

The front-line battle Ruhama and the other NGOs carry out on a daily basis must continue to receive our support, and the level of support must be increased. It is very important to clearly state that the Bill does not target those who have been smuggled. It is also important that we keep the lines of communication open with people who, unfortunately, find themselves in that situation. We look forward to the continuation of the Bill through the House. We support it on this Stage, and we look forward to further debate.