Mary O'Rourke (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Question 292: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the approximate number of women lured into Ireland for sex purposes; if he will provide full details of a recently announced initiative to tackle this issue; and his plans to introduce legislation to underpin European directives relating to this matter. [22943/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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A number of initiatives have been undertaken by An Garda Síochána, on both a unilateral basis and, as appropriate, by working in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies, in particular with the UK, in the context of the common travel area to uncover the extent of trafficking in human beings, especially women.

The initiative to which the Deputy refers is known as Operation 'Pentameter II' and is one such particular initiative. Operation Pentameter II was launched in London by the UK Home Secretary on 3 October 2007. Officials from my Department and senior Garda officers have been participating in planning meetings since earlier this year and it is intended that An Garda Síochána will run complementary enforcement operations in this jurisdiction at the same time as the United Kingdom.

The operation which is led by Gloucestershire Constabulary is a proactive and co-ordinated campaign of activity to tackle the trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation throughout the common travel area of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The sharing of intelligence between police in both jurisdictions is occurring on a regular basis, and co-operation in investigating suspected cases of human trafficking which impact on both the UK and Ireland is ongoing.

Through Operation Pentameter, a significant level of cooperation has developed, particularly in the area of training, with input from the UK authorities into training courses run by staff from the Garda Training College. An Garda Síochána is in the process of providing training, relating to human trafficking, to over one hundred officers to enable them to recognise the indicators of trafficking and, through intelligence-gathering, to enhance our knowledge-base surrounding this type of criminal activity.

A senior officer at Detective Superintendent rank from An Garda Síochána has been appointed as a liaison officer with Operation Pentameter and he continues to meet with his counterparts in the UK on a regular basis with a view to ensuring that co-ordination of activity between the two jurisdictions in tackling human trafficking is in place. Furthermore, a member of the Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) is also currently seconded to the Garda National Immigration Bureau in relation to this issue and this will maximise the co-operation between An Garda Síochána and the PSNI with regard to the problem of human trafficking.

Operation Pentameter II is linked to a larger initiative on human trafficking being undertaken in a number of European countries including Ireland and this larger initiative will be launched in Brussels soon.

As part of Operation Pentameter 1, a poster campaign was launched in both Ireland and the UK to encourage victims of human trafficking to report their plight to State authorities. The undertaking of additional awareness raising initiatives in both the UK and Ireland during Operation Pentameter II has been discussed and plans are being formulated in this regard.

Legislation providing for the criminalisation of trafficking in persons for the purpose of exploitation will be published in the very near future. This legislation will criminalise trafficking in human beings as provided for in EU Council Framework Decision on combating trafficking in persons. The criminal law provisions in other international instruments, including the Council of Europe Convention on action against trafficking in human beings, are also being taken into account in the legislation. The term "exploitation" in the Bill is defined as meaning sexual or labour exploitation or the removal of a person's organs for the purpose of transplanting into another person.

The legislation will be the first in a series of measures to be rolled out over the next year and I intend to make a further public announcement in relation to the issue of human trafficking later on this week. Because of the clandestine nature of the activity there are inherent difficulties in making an estimate of the kind sought by the Deputy but while there is no evidence of a substantial human trafficking problem in Ireland, the Government is determined that all necessary actions are taken to ensure that it does not become a significant problem in the future.