Some 40 representatives of government departments, agencies, civil society and international organisations met in Dublin on 19 September 2024 to discuss the implementation of the recommendations from the third evaluation report on Ireland by the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) and the related Committee of the Parties’ recommendation.
The meeting was co-organised by the Anti-Trafficking Division of the Council of Europe and the Department of Justice of Ireland. The discussions focused on trafficking victims’ access to legal aid and compensation, measures to strengthen the criminal justice response to human trafficking and the protection of vulnerable victims, as well as the identification of victims and their access to specialised assistance. Participants also discussed the third National Action Plan to prevent and combat human trafficking 2023-2027 and the Criminal Justice (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act 2024, which address many of the recommendations made by GRETA.
The event provided an opportunity to present Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)21 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings for the purpose of labour exploitation, and to discuss ways to strengthen action against this form of trafficking in Ireland.
Ireland is expected to report to the Committee of the Parties on the measures taken to comply with its recommendation by 25 November 2024.
The Anti-Trafficking Convention provides for a monitoring mechanism to evaluate the implementation of its provisions by States Parties through a procedure divided into rounds. The monitoring mechanism is made up of two bodies: the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) and the Committee of the Parties 
