Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 293: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the initiatives he will take to end sex trafficking of men, women and children and prostitution in Ireland; his plans to introduce new legislation or regulation; the number of prosecutions that have taken place in the past three months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16262/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Over the past few years strong legislative, administrative and operational measures have been put in place to combat and prevent trafficking in persons for both sexual and labour exploitation purposes. The Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 with penalties of up to life imprisonment for human trafficking has greatly strengthened the law in this area. Section 5 of the Act makes it an offence to solicit or importune a trafficked person, in any place, public or private for the purposes of prostitution. A dedicated Anti-Human Trafficking Unit was established in my Department in 2008 with the purpose of ensuring that the State's response to human trafficking is coordinated and comprehensive. This led to the production of a National Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Trafficking of Persons for the period from June 2009 to December 2012 setting out 144 Actions of which 92 were completed or significantly progressed at the end of 2010 with a further 52 on-going. A mid-term review of that Plan is currently taking place and I will consider what further steps should be taken both on completion of that review and on the expiry of the term of the National Action Plan. In addition to the dedicated Unit in my Department there are 3 other dedicated Units in State Agencies dealing with the issue - the Human Trafficking Investigation and Co-ordination Unit in the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB); the Anti-Human Trafficking Team in the Health Service Executive (HSE) and a specialised Human Trafficking legal team in the Legal Aid Board (LAB). Dedicated personnel are also assigned to deal with the prosecution of cases in the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Office. There are a wide range of training and awareness raising activities on-going and extensive consultation structures exist with Non-governmental Organisations, International Organisations and State Agencies.

The Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2010 has been restored to the Dáil Order Paper. The Bill, once enacted, contains statutory protections for victims of trafficking and also provides for recovery and reflection periods and temporary residence permission for persons whom a member of the Garda Síochána, not below the rank of Superintendent, considers that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the person is a victim of human trafficking. These provisions are reflected in Administrative Immigration Arrangements for the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking which have been in place since the enactment of the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act, 2008. The EU Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims was adopted by Member States on 5 April 2011. Member States (including Ireland) who opted into the Directive are obliged to bring into force any laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive. The legislative implications of transposing this Directive in Ireland is currently being examined. The law in relation to human trafficking and prostitution is kept under continuing review in my Department.

The Garda authorities have conducted a number of operations to combat human trafficking and prostitution and will continue to do so in line with intelligence available to them. In respect of the number of prosecutions that have taken place within the past three months in relation to offences for human trafficking and prostitution, it has not been possible for the Garda authorities to supply the details requested in the time available. I will be in contact with the Deputy directly when the information is to hand.