Written answers
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Department of Justice and Equality
Human Trafficking
Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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753. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide in tabular form, the number of investigations into suspected trafficking crimes for 2010, 2011, 2012 and to date in 2013; if he will also publish in tabular form the number of convictions in relation to trafficking offences; if he will provide details of the countries where persons being trafficked here originated from via percentage breakdown; his views on the main trafficking routes and means of travel to Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46062/13]
Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of my Department publishes annual reports setting out in detail the nature and extent of human trafficking in Ireland. To date, annual reports for 2009, 2010 and 2011 have been published and are available from Ireland's dedicated anti-human trafficking website www.blueblindfold.gov.ie and on my Department's website. As the report for 2012 is to be published soon the figures for 2012 are preliminary as are the figures for 2013. The information you are seeking is as follows:
| YEAR | Number of Investigations | Number of Convictions |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 69 | 3 |
| 2011 | 53 | 4 |
| 2012 | 37 | 6 |
| 2013 | 31 | 3 |
NOTE:
1. The figures for 2013 relate to the period from 1 January to 30 September 2013.
2. Convictions are in respect of offences under the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 and in respect of other offences related to human trafficking under other Acts e.g. Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998.
3. Convictions occurring in any calendar year may be the result of prosecutions initiated in previous calendar years.
To protect the identity of victims I have set out below the region of origin (as opposed to country of origin) given the very small numbers from some countries.
| - | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | % | % | % | % |
| Africa | - | - | - | - |
| Western Africa | 39 | 40 | 17 | 32 |
| Southern Africa | 6 | 5 | 4 | 10 |
| South East Africa | 4 | - | - | - |
| Eastern Africa | 3 | 2 | - | - |
| Northern Africa | 3 | 4 | - | - |
| Central Africa | - | - | - | 3 |
| Europe | - | - | - | - |
| EU (except Ireland) | 22 | 16 | 21 | 19 |
| Ireland | 8 | 11 | 40 | 3 |
| Europe (Non-EU) | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
| Asia | - | - | - | - |
| Southern Asia | 6 | 7 | 2 | - |
| Eastern Asia | 4 | 2 | - | 16 |
| South East Asia | 3 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| America | - | - | - | - |
| Latin America | - | - | 4 | 3 |
| Unknown | - | - | - | 7 |
An Garda Síochána, in its Policing Plan for 2013, has highlighted the prevention and detection of Human Trafficking as one of eight stated priorities. The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit in my Department and An Garda Síochána are continually vigilant for any emerging trends relating to human trafficking and they maintain regular dialogue on this matter with relevant State agencies, NGOs and International organisations working in this area.
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