Measures contained in the Government's National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking will bring Ireland into line with its international obligations in the area, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has pledged.
He said the plan - published this afternnon - is designed to support victims and "create a hostile environment" for those who seek to perpetrate the crime.
The document sets out measures already introduced and areas where further action is needed. Key preventative measures include penalties of up to life imprisonment for trafficking of people for the purposes of labour, sexual exploitation or removal of organs, awareness-raising campaigns and improved data collection.
On the protection of victims, the plan includes the provision of a "recovery and reflection" period of 60 days and temporary residence permits where suspected victims cooperate with an investigation or prosecution. It also provides for accommodation, medical treatment, counselling, legal aid and interpretation to be made available, where necessary, and endorses protecting the identity of suspected victims during criminal proceedings for trafficking offences.
Where children are identified as suspected victims, the State's main focus will be on placing them with families in local communities, and the practice of housing children in hostels will be brought to an end.
A recommendation of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate that an emergency alert system for missing children, similar to the 'Amber Alert' in place in other countries, will also be implemented.
Mr Ahern said the structures set out in the plan would bring Ireland into line with its international obligations, allowing for the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings and the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.
"This plan is a key element in fulfilling this Government's commitment to tackling trafficking in people - one of the most horrendous crimes worldwide," the Minister said.
While it was difficult to estimate the levels of human trafficking because of the nature of the crime, one victim was one too many, he said.
"This Plan is designed to ensure that we have a strategy in place which will proactively and comprehensively address this issue. We want to raise awareness of the issue among the general public and put in place the structures required to protect victims and bring the perpetrators to justice."
Support groups broadly welcomed publication of the Plan but many said that the measures did not go far enough to protect vicims.
Amnesty said the plan was weak on supports for trafficking victims.
“The proposal to continue accommodating trafficking victims in asylum seekers’ accommodation is completely unacceptable. The living conditions in these places are simply not appropriate or safe for people who have been victims of an appalling crime and are at risk of further exploitation," said Amnesty's executive director Colm O’Gorman..
Ruhama said that it was hugely important that guidelines and directives which relate to the granting of protection for victims are properly applied.
"We are concerned that victims have to wait long periods of time before the Recovery and Reflection period is granted and that often victims are co operating in criminal investigations before they are given Temporary Residency Permits. The identification of victims needs to be broadened to include the collaboration of relevant agencies, not just the Gardaí," Gerardine Rowley of Ruhama.
Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) said that state agencies must work more closely with organisations on the ground, to ensure proper identification and protection of people who have been trafficked.
Reacting to the launch of the Plan, Edel McGinley of MRCI said that forced labour was happening across Ireland but remains largely unidentified by key agencies.
“The National Anti Trafficking Action Plan will only be successful if there is a shared understanding of the indicators of the different forms of trafficking. Such a collaborative approach will ensure that all forms of trafficking are properly identified and tackled, and that victims of trafficking do not continue to be left in limbo," said Ms McGinley.
"Without proper identification, Ireland will end up deporting the very people it should be protecting and giving access to justice,” she added.
Elswhere, Fine Gael's Immigration and Integration spokesman Denis Naughten said he was appalled at plans to place trafficking victims in asylum centres which have been accused of grooming people for prostitution.
“There is currently almost no protection for victims of trafficking who come forward to the authorities. And the consequences are grave for genuine victims who are not recognised by the State. It is particularly tragic that these women are first put in prison, instead of the criminals who trafficked them for sex. The Government is effectively strengthening the sex trafficker", said Mr Naughten.