Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to Sir Mo Farah in the UK, an Olympic star on the track. I pay tribute to his bravery and resilience. This morning, he came out with his story of how he was trafficked as a child from Somalia to the UK. As a vulnerable child he was brought to another country and forced to work for a family. He was not able to go to school. He eventually went to school at about 12 years of age. It was only by the grace of God that he was able to shine through sports. It was because his PE teacher came forward to support him that he was able to speak and actually get help. I am amazed at that. I understand that the documentary on Sir Mo Farah will be aired by the BBC tomorrow. I pay tribute to him on coming forward at this stage in his career. As a young boy, he was seen as unkempt, he could not speak English and his parents never attended any parent-teacher meetings. One of the articles on the BBC website states:

Sir Mo's PE teacher, Alan Watkinson, noticed a transformation in the young boy when he hit the athletics track.

"The only language he seemed to understand was the language of PE and sport," he says.

Sir Mo says sport was a lifeline for him as "the only thing I could do to get away from this [living situation] was to get out and run".

He eventually confided in Mr Watkinson about his true identity, his background, and the family he was being forced to work for.

This is important because we are not immune from trafficking in Ireland. The Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, attended an event on human trafficking in June along with the US ambassador. The undocumented migrant scheme will expire at the end of July. It is crucial that we speak more about these schemes so that people feel free to speak to their teachers and the role of sport.