Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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331. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons that have been convicted of sex trafficking since 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2585/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act, 2008 came into effect on 1 June 2008 making human trafficking an offence with penalties of up to life imprisonment and (at the discretion of the Court) a fine. I am assured that an Garda Síochána are pro-active in attempting to detect any breach of this law. The prevention and detection of human trafficking and the protection of victims has been a policing priority for An Garda Síochána since 2009. Comprehensive arrangements are in place for the training of Gardaí to recognise and deal with all issues relating to human trafficking.

In 2009, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of my Department initiated a data collection strategy for the purpose of gaining a more in-depth understanding of the nature and extent of human trafficking in Ireland. AHTU publishes annual reports setting out information on the criminal justice response to human trafficking in Ireland as well as information on alleged victims of human trafficking encountered by An Garda Síochána and International and Non Governmental Organisations working in the field disaggregated by gender, age, region of origin and type of exploitation. The reports are available on Ireland's dedicated anti-human trafficking website www.blueblindfold.gov.ieand on my Department's website. For the Deputy's convenience, the information sought, as outlined in these annual reports, is as follows.

The specific information sought by the Deputy is set out in the following table.

Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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332. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the steps being taken to target the practice of sex trafficking here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2586/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Strong legislative, administrative and operational measures have been put in place to combat and prevent trafficking in human beings including for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Since 2009, trafficking in human beings has been identified by An Garda Síochána as one of the priorities in its Annual Policing Plan with a focus on the prevention and detection of human trafficking.

The Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 provides for penalties of up to life imprisonment and, at the discretion of the court, a fine for persons who traffic or attempt to traffic other persons including for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It also makes it an offence to sell or offer for sale or to purchase or offer to purchase any person for any purpose. Penalties of up to life imprisonment and, at the discretion of the court, a fine apply in respect of these offences. Furthermore it is an offence for a person to solicit for prostitution a person who s/he knows or has reasonable grounds for believing is a trafficked person. The penalty can be up to five years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment.

There is a dedicated Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) in my Department to ensure that the State's response to human trafficking is coordinated and comprehensive. In addition to this dedicated Unit there are 3 other dedicated Units in State Agencies dealing with the issue namely:

- the Human Trafficking Investigation and Co-ordination Unit in An Garda Síochána;

- the Anti-Human Trafficking Team in the Health Service Executive;

- and a specialised Human Trafficking legal team in the Legal Aid Board.

The State provides a wide range of support services to victims of human trafficking including those persons who have been trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. These services include accommodation, medical care and planning, psychological assistance, material assistance, legal aid and advice, immigration and residence permissions, vocational training and education.

Specific detailed training is provided to members of An Garda Síochána. Almost 4000 members of An Garda Síochána have received awareness training in human trafficking and over 900 have participated in the in-depth training course developed jointly by An Garda Síochána and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). A module dealing with human trafficking forms part of the training programme for all new recruits to An Garda Síochána. There are also a wide range of other training and awareness raising activities on-going and extensive consultation structures exist with up to 70 State Agencies, Non- Governmental Organisations and International Organisations.

AHTU, in partnership with Ruhama, has been successful in obtaining EU funding for a project aimed at delivering activities that promote zero tolerance of human trafficking as a form of violence against women. This project has two strands: one aimed at women at risk of sexual exploitation and another aimed at men and boys promoting zero tolerance of human trafficking as a form of violence against women. Activities under both strands of this project will occur this year.

I am committed to ensuring that the measures taken to combat human trafficking for sexual exploitation, including legislation, are adequate. To this end, on 27 November 2014, I published the General Scheme of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2014 which includes two new offences of purchasing, in the context of prostitution, sexual services. The first is a general offence of purchasing sexual services which carries a penalty of a fine of up to €500 for a first offence and fines of up to €1000 for a second or subsequent offence. The second is the offence of purchasing a sexual service from a trafficked person and carries a potential penalty of up to 5 years imprisonment and/or a fine. In both cases, the person selling the sexual service will not be subject to an offence.

Unlike the existing offences relating to prostitution such as soliciting, loitering or brothel keeping, the new offences will specifically target the demand for prostitution.The purpose of this new legislation is to reduce the demand for the services of victims of human trafficking who are being sexually exploited in prostitution. My primary concern in introducing these provisions is to vindicate the human rights of those trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.