Human trafficking - Tackling evil of modern slave trade

The campaign launched yesterday by Justice Minister Michael McDowell on human trafficking underlines an insidious and potentially growing problem facing this country.

Currently, the number of cases here is small but such is the concern behind it that it has already warranted several ongoing garda investigations of allegations that women are being illegally brought into the State for employment in the sex industry.

Flowing from those probes, the gardaí and Justice Department officials have produced a report which was published to coincide with a Crimestoppers poster campaign highlighting this criminal enterprise.