Letter sent to Jim O’Callaghan, Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration on the 24th July 2026 on the Concerns of the Independent National Rapporteur on the State’s response to Trafficking in Human Beings
Dear Minister,
I write to you from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘IHREC’) in our capacity as Ireland’s Independent National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings.
I first would like to welcome and acknowledge the positive engagement of your Department with IHREC as National Rapporteur, together with the work of your Department and An Garda Síochána to combat the heinous crime of trafficking. I also write however to express our concern in relation to the lack of progress in key areas to combat human trafficking in Ireland and potential backsliding including in critical areas including the provision of appropriate accommodation to victims. This is manifested in a number of areas set out below. I would welcome engagement with you on this important issue and I refer to my letter dated 19th May and email dated 14th July seeking a meeting on this and other matters.
1. Failure to transpose the strengthened obligations under the amended EU Anti Trafficking Directive
The amended EU Anti Trafficking Directive strengthens Member States’ obligations to identify, protect and support victims of trafficking including through formal referral mechanisms such as a National Referral Mechanism (‘NRM’). The State has failed to transpose the amended EU Anti-Trafficking Directive by the deadline of 15th July. We are also concerned about the minimalist approach to transposition of the strengthened obligations under the amended Directive indicated in the General Scheme, which we consider fails to fully transpose the amended Directive. As set out in our legislative observations published in December 2025, we are particularly concerned about the ongoing lack of clarity on victims’ statutory entitlement to assistance which is not addressed in the proposed legislation. We urge the State to engage in a full transposition of the amended Directive as a vehicle for strengthening the overall response to trafficking in the areas of prevention, protection and prosecution.
2. The continued failure to implement a statutory National Referral Mechanism
In 2024, IHREC welcomed the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act 2024 introducing a new statutory National Referral Mechanism (NRM). However, Part 3 of the Act has not yet been commenced and the NRM has still not materialised. There remains a lack of clarity as to when and how it will be operational.
The current system for identification and support is persistently problematic and is insufficient to identify and support victims and those at risk. From our stakeholder engagement in 2026, we are aware of delays in identification and a lack of a transparent and consistent process of identification which is impacting negatively on vulnerable individuals. We are therefore increasingly concerned about the ongoing failure to implement the statutory NRM.
We are concerned to learn that a change of approach to that envisaged in the legislation is currently under consideration whereby the NRM as set out in the 2024 Act may not be fully implemented, with key aspects such as the multi-agency identification process being revisited. To date, there has been no consultation with key stakeholders on any such proposals. The changes under consideration in our view risk undermining the effective operation of any new NRM. A statutory NRM is recognised to be essential to addressing serious and long-standing issues in identification and support of victims of trafficking and we again encourage you to implement the statutory NRM through commencement of Part 3 as a priority action.
3. Accommodation for Victims of Trafficking – a problematic and worsening situation
Key stakeholders recently identified to us a worsening of the accommodation situation for victims of trafficking, particularly for victims of trafficking who are not in the international protection system. A recent media report states that An Garda Síochána have identified the highest numbers of trafficking victims coming from Brazil, China, and Romania, all of which likely fall into this cohort. We understand that victims who are not in the international protection system are facing barriers in their access to any safe accommodation.
Furthermore, access to short and long-term accommodation for victims of trafficking will be considerably impacted by the Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026. The legislation will impose a high level of conditionality on access to both social housing and homeless accommodation. In our view, such conditionality is at odds with the mandatory provisions of Article 11 of the amended Directive and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings as set out in our recent letter to Minister James Browne.
There also appears to be a lack of clarity as to which Department has overall responsibility for ensuring the accommodation needs of victims are met in line with the Directive.
In the Dáil and Seanad Éireann debates, Minister Browne responded to questions on the accommodation provision for victims and made reference to a role for the Department of Justice in meeting the accommodation needs of victims of trafficking. In the Dáil, the Minister stated that short-term supports are provided by the Department of Justice “who may also decide to give that person long-term supports”.
It is essential that presumed and identified victims of trafficking can easily access safe and appropriate accommodation and do not face administrative hurdles or restrictive conditionality when seeking such accommodation and support. It is vital therefore that there is clarity on the roles in respect of such provision to ensure there are clear pathways to access and overall adherence and alignment with the amended Directive in respect of accommodation and supports.
4. International Protection Act 2026
We have raised several concerns regarding the approach to human trafficking in the transposition of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum including around screening and processes for identifying and supporting victims, approaches for child victims, and critically, alignment with any forthcoming NRM. We remain concerned more broadly regarding the continued conflation of immigration and asylum systems with trafficking systems in Ireland. It is essential that during the Pact implementation phase there are established and transparent processes that ensure alignment between detection and identification of victims of trafficking and the asylum process and ensure both potential and identified victims can access safe and adequate accommodation and support.
Thank you for your consideration of the issues raised in this letter. As stated above, I would welcome engagement with you on this important issue and on other matters.
Yours sincerely,
Liam Herrick
Chief Commissioner
In line with our publications policy, this letter will be published on our website. This policy only pertains to IHREC-issued communications, and not to correspondence received by us.