European Parliament
Mairead McGuinness (PPE-DE ). –
Mr President, in Ireland last week we saw the horrors of trafficking when a programme was broadcast on RTE television about young women from Romania being trafficked into the EU, and into Ireland in particular.
The programme showed that, unfortunately, Ireland is one of a small number of countries that has failed to implement various EU directives on combating trafficking. It is important to point out that, as a cross-border activity, trafficking knows no borders. All European countries should implement all the various directives as required. I would call on the Irish Minister for Justice to do just that, because trafficking is a terrible abuse. It is growing in reach and is affecting young girls and women in particular.
It was a great shame to see that Ireland was one of the countries not implementing the required directives, and I would hope that our government will change that and immediately implement them.

