Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 386: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which he intends to put in place measures to prevent trafficking in children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19788/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Over the past few years strong legislative, administrative and operational measures have been put in place to combat human trafficking, including child trafficking, for the purpose of labour or sexual exploitation or the removal of organs. These measures include:

the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act, 2008 with penalties of up to life imprisonment which builds on the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998.

4 dedicated Units in State Agencies dealing with this issue - a dedicated Unit in my Department, in An Garda Síochána, in the HSE and in the Legal Aid Board.

Dedicated personnel have also been assigned to deal with the prosecution of cases in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

A National Action Plan to Prevent and Combat the Trafficking of Human Beings in Ireland, 2009-2012 was published with 144 Actions of which 92 were completed or significantly progressed by the end of 2010 and a further 52 were ongoing. Part 4 of the Plan is dedicated to the issue of child trafficking.

A Working Group on Child Trafficking - which is one of 5 Working Groups dealing with different aspects of human trafficking - meets regularly to progress the 26 Actions in the Plan related to child trafficking.

A wide range of awareness raising and training initiatives have taken place focussing on all aspects of human trafficking including child trafficking.

Periods of recovery and reflection and temporary residence are granted to victims of trafficking who do not have a permission to be in the State.

The care of children who are suspected victims of human trafficking is primarily the responsibility of the HSE. Services provided to child victims of human trafficking include counselling and debriefing, a multi-disciplinary assessment of need, the allocation of a Social Worker to oversee and implement an individual Care Plan, medical screening, access to primary and post-primary education and voluntary return is arranged, if this is deemed to be in the best interests of the child. A protocol between An Garda Síochána and the HSE to maximise inter-agency cooperation and promote the safety and welfare of children has been in place since April, 2009.

In 2011 An Garda Síochána, in their Annual Policing Plan, identified trafficking in human beings as one of their priorities and have conducted a number of operations to combat human trafficking, including child trafficking, and will continue to do so in line with intelligence available to them.