Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 March 2007
239 Mr. Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he will introduce the Criminal Justice (Trafficking in Persons and Sexual Offences) Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10088/07]
View answer240 Mr. Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he will sign the UN Protocol on Trafficking and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10089/07]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 239 and 240 together.
As I informed the House on 31 January the Government approved the drafting of the Criminal Law (Trafficking in Persons and Sexual Offences) Bill 2006 last July. It is at present being drafted in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel.
The Bill is criminal law legislation which will implement the criminal law aspects of EU, UN and Council of Europe instruments on trafficking by creating offences of recruiting, transporting, transferring to another person, harbouring or knowingly arranging or facilitating:
(a) the entry into, travel within or departure from, the State of a person, or
(b) the provision of accommodation or employment in the State for that person, for the purpose of that person's exploitation. The term "exploitation" in the Bill is defined as meaning sexual or labour exploitation or the removal of a person's organs for the purpose of transplanting into another person. A copy of the draft Bill as approved by Government is available on my Department's website.
The UN Protocol to prevent and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children, was signed by Ireland in December 2000 and I recently announced my intention to ask the Government to sign the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. I also stated that it is intended, as part of the new immigration policy framework to provide a clear policy statement setting out how these cases will be managed once it is established that trafficking has taken place. I would reiterate, however, that the lack of a specific legislative provision on the victims of trafficking has in no way reduced Ireland's commitment to dealing with cases sympathetically as they arise.
