Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 126: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 75 of 8 February 2007, if he has received the report of the special [i]rapporteur[/i] of the UN Commission on Human Rights on trafficking; the contents of same; the Government's reaction to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10493/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The latest report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Sigma Huda, was submitted to the Human Rights Council in January 2007, on foot of Council Decision 1/102. The report covers the period January to December 2006 and contains an outline of the Special Rapporteur's activities in that period. The main body of the report is devoted to a thematic study on the issue of forced marriages in the context of trafficking in persons. The Report contains the Special Rapporteur's conclusions and recommendations on ways to prevent trafficking in persons through, or for the purposes of, forced marriages, to discourage the demand for such marriages, to protect and assist the victims concerned, and to establish legal and prosecutorial measures to combat forced marriages in the context of trafficking in persons.

The Government is supportive of the work of Ms. Huda. The ongoing struggle against human trafficking is a priority issue at EU and international level. Ireland has supported measures against human trafficking in various international fora and, as the Deputy will be aware, the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, has received government approval for the drafting of the Criminal Law (Trafficking in Persons and Sexual Offences) Bill which will create an offence of trafficking in persons for the specific purpose of sexual or labour exploitation.

The Special Rapporteur did not visit Ireland during the period in question and her report makes no specific reference to Ireland. However, as the Deputy is aware, Ms. Huda visited Ireland in January 2007. Comments she allegedly made in relation to extraordinary rendition during that visit were the subject of Parliamentary Question No. 75 of 8 February 2007. At the time that reply was given, the Special Rapporteur's office had not been able to provide a copy of her speech. They have since provided my Department with a copy of her paper, entitled "Bounds beyond boundaries: international criminal justice with specific reference to human trafficking, sexual offences and the ICC". As the title would suggest, the paper has no relevance to the entirely separate issue of extraordinary rendition.