Ireland has not opted out of the Directive. It is open to Ireland to opt in to the Directive at any time and consideration is being given to this at present. It is also important to separate the issues of how Ireland deals with victims of trafficking from that of the signature of the various instruments in this area.
The current Irish Immigration system allows the authorities to deal with the victims of trafficking in a sympathetic and pragmatic way and there is no significant evidence that this is not being done or that our non-participation in those instruments is having a negative impact on victims. Any necessary assistance is provided to victims by the services of the State.