Ireland is to apply to be part of new EU measures combating human trafficking.
Minister for Justice, Simon Harris received Government approval to join an EU directive which will amend the anti-trafficking directive and focus on combating human trafficking while protecting victims.
As the Irish Examiner reports, the proposal is designed to "strengthen the ability to combat crimes related to human trafficking and to harmonise human trafficking rules across EU member states", a Government spokesperson said.
The updated rules under the proposal will allow authorities to investigate and prosecute exploitation, introducing new mandatory offences against companies for trafficking offences, and create a European referral mechanism to improve early identification of victims and provide support.
Specific measures include defining forced marriage and illegal adoption as human trafficking under member states’ domestic law, making it a criminal offence to knowingly use services provided by victims of trafficking, and imposing mandatory sanctions against legal persons held accountable for trafficking offences, amongst others.
Mr Harris also received approval for Ireland to extend existing EU-wide measures on sharing of passenger information, currently used for illegal immigration, to the new area of terrorist offences and serious crime.
Ireland will take part in the proposal for a regulation on the collection and transfer of advance passenger information for the "prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime".
Advance passenger information refers to passenger information such as name, date of birth, gender, citizenship, passport number, and flight number, as well as arrival and departure times.
This data is currently processed primarily for border management purposes and for countering illegal immigration under the terms of an EU directive, but would be extended to terrorism and serious crime.
