Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2018
320. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the operation of the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008; the number of prosecutions and convictions that have arisen in each of the past six years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30746/18]
View answerThe Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 was commenced in June 2008 and specifically prohibits trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation, including sex trafficking and forced labour.
It is the main law relating to human trafficking in Ireland; other relevant legislation includes the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) (Amendment) Act 2013, and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017.
The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of my Department publishes reports annually which include details of prosecutions and convictions under the 2008 Act, and for other offences where human trafficking has been investigated. The information in these Annual Reports is based on material provided by An Garda Síochána. Information drawn from those reports and preliminary information with regard to 2017 (which report has yet to be published) is included in the table below. All annual reports to date and further information on human trafficking is available at the Government's Anti-Human Trafficking hub, www.blueblindfold.gov.ie.
The 2008 Act includes, at section 3, an amendment to the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998. The vast majority of prosecutions, and all of the convictions to date, listed in the table below, relate to offences under this section, which generally involves the non-commercial sexual exploitation of a child, and is not regarded as human trafficking.
Those figures in brackets in the below table refer to prosecutions under section 4 of the 2008 Act, and relate to crimes which are regarded as human trafficking. Though there have not been any convictions to date for offences under this section, I am satisfied that this Act and the other legislation referred to, combined with the disruption caused to traffickers by Garda action, are an effective tool in the fight against trafficking.
Note that for any given year the figures below relate to prosecutions commenced in that year; in a small number of cases more than one individual is being prosecuted.
|
|
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
|
Prosecutions |
13 |
16 |
13 |
16 |
18 (2) |
25 (4) |
|
Convictions |
4 |
8 |
10 |
11 |
6 |
9 |
