Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 117: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will request further meetings with his counterparts from countries other than Poland, Latvia and Lithuania including, for example, Romania and Belarus to discuss tackling human trafficking and supporting the victims of human trafficking. [19651/06]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 141: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs when the meetings he has requested between himself and his counterparts from Poland, Latvia and Lithuania are to take place; the proposals he will discuss with them relating to the need to tackle human trafficking and to support victims of human trafficking. [19649/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 117 and 141 together.

I met with the newly appointed Foreign Minister of Poland on Monday, 22 May. The Foreign Ministers of Lithuania and Latvia have also been invited to visit Ireland, and it is hoped that dates for these visits will be agreed in the coming weeks.

The invitations to the Ministers were issued in order to offer them the opportunity to meet with members of their communities in Ireland, to discuss bilateral relations and matters on the agenda of the European Union. The presence here of such large communities from these countries offers an excellent opportunity to strengthen our bilateral relations with them to our mutual benefit. In the light of the sizeable Polish community in Ireland, we agreed that there may be a need for an increase in exchanges between our respective Ministries of Justice and police forces to ensure that any problems arising are dealt with speedily.

I can confirm that among the many issues discussed with the Polish Foreign Minister, human trafficking within the European Union was raised. This is a subject to which the Government attaches high priority. Other issues included the Constitutional Treaty, the EU Services Directive, UN reform, the Middle East Peace Process and aspects of Polish migration to Ireland. Human trafficking is an issue of concern to all member States, and I have arranged to send a report of the discussion to my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, as An Garda Síochána has responsibility for enforcing the law in this area.