Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 May 2006
414 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of arrests that have been made, charges that have been brought and prosecutions that have been obtained under human trafficking legislation here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18253/06]
View answerUnder current Irish criminal law it is an offence, punishable by up to life imprisonment, to traffic a person under 17 years of age, male or female, into, through or out of Ireland for the purpose of that person's sexual exploitation. This is provided for in the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998.
Under the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000, it is an offence for a person to organise or knowingly facilitate the entry into Ireland of another person whom that person knows or has reasonable cause to believe is an illegal immigrant. The penalty on conviction on indictment for this offence is a maximum of 10 years imprisonment or an unlimited fine or both.
In trafficking cases, it is also possible for the prosecuting authorities here to bring charges for a range of offences covered by our criminal law, including sexual offences, false imprisonment, possession of false documents, etc.
Legislation creating an offence of trafficking in persons for the specific purpose of sexual or labour exploitation is contained in the draft Criminal Justice (Trafficking in Persons and Sexual Offences) Bill, which is at an advanced stage of preparation in my Department.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that 83 persons have been arrested on suspicion of committing breaches of the provisions of section 2 of the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000. A number of files have been submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions and proceedings have been initiated in respect of 24 section 2 breaches. To date, 3 persons have been convicted in respect of a total of 10 breaches of the provisions concerned. In the majority of these cases, Garda investigations related to smuggling of persons, as opposed to human trafficking.
In common with other EU countries, to date, all the indications are that, in Ireland, trafficking in human beings takes place on a much smaller scale than illegal immigration. In the recently published United Nations Report "Trafficking in Persons Global Patterns" Ireland ranks at the low end of destination or transit countries in western Europe.
By its very nature, human trafficking is a clandestine activity and, owing to the intimidation associated with it, victims are often reluctant to come forward to the authorities. This is the experience internationally and, for these reasons, the level of prosecutions cannot be used, on its own, to assess the success of law enforcement measures. Such an approach fails to take account of Garda activity aimed at preventing trafficking and disrupting criminal elements.
Successful prosecutions, no matter what legislation is in operation, will depend on the existence of evidence that will stand up in court and for that to happen, there must be a willingness to co-operate with Garda investigations. That is partly why, on 5 May, I launched a poster campaign. This campaign, which is facilitated by Crimestoppers, will help raise awareness of trafficking among the general public. It will also provide an important point of contact for those who may be victims of, or vulnerable to, this insidious crime. The posters are being displayed at airports, ports, bus and railway stations, among other places. Anyone who rings the free phone number 1800 25 00 25 can be assured that the call is anonymous, safe and free of charge. Victims of trafficking, or anyone with knowledge of trafficking activities, should not be afraid of contacting the authorities for assistance. An Garda Síochána, my Department and the International Organisation for Migration are all participating in the campaign and are available to provide whatever assistance is necessary to victims who come to our attention.
An Garda Síochána and, in particular, the Garda National Immigration Bureau take a proactive and vigorous approach in preventing and combating trafficking of human beings. A number of ongoing Garda operations are in place to tackle the phenomenon. The approach taken in tackling trafficking is, where possible to prevent it occurring, or where it does occur, to seek to prosecute the perpetrators and to protect the victims.
