Child trafficking under-identified in Ireland - IHREC

Child trafficking remains significantly under-identified in Ireland, with the number of children formally identified as victims remaining extremely low, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has warned.

The commission said the biggest challenge facing Ireland is not the number of children identified as victims, but the number of children who are being missed.

Despite growing evidence of exploitation, just 10 child victims were formally identified in 2024 and 18 in 2025.

Publishing its new report, titled Child Trafficking and ICT-Facilitated Child Trafficking in Ireland, the IHREC said these figures cannot be taken as an indication of the "true scale" of child trafficking in Ireland.

The research found a strong consensus among stakeholders that child trafficking is significantly under-identified, including Irish children, who may be particularly vulnerable to under-identification.

"We have never identified an Irish child as being a victim of trafficking ever," said Chief Commissioner Liam Herrick, speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland.

"There are categories of children living in Ireland today that are clearly at risk of being victims of trafficking, but they're invisible to the system.

"Across Europe, 80% of identified victims of child trafficking are EU citizens, and the majority of those are from the country in which they're detected.

"What we have is a channel of identifying victims of trafficking in Ireland, including child victims, which is primarily coming from the migration system and being referred to an Garda Siochana.

"It's a very narrow channel. It's clearly missing significant cohorts of individuals. There also does seem to be then a question of misidentification within that process and miscategorisation."

The commission said that children experiencing exploitation can be overlooked or misidentified and may be treated through child protection or criminal justice systems rather than recognised as potential victims of trafficking.

The commission said this is particularly concerning as the nature of child exploitation is changing rapidly, with social media, messaging platforms, online gaming and other digital technologies increasingly being used to groom, recruit and control children.

Mr Herrick said: "The figures tell us how few children have been identified in Ireland. They cannot tell us how many children we have failed to see.

"Children who are trafficked are groomed, exploited or controlled, and their experience may never come to the attention of the services that could protect them.

"Our starting point must therefore be identification. If a child is not recognised as a potential victim of trafficking, they cannot access the protection, assistance and specialist support they need," said Mr Herrick.

"This requires every part of the system to be able to recognise the signs of trafficking, not just An Garda Síochána, but child protection, healthcare, education, immigration services, youth services and civil society.

"It requires professionals to be trained to look at situations through a trafficking lens, and it requires agencies to work together around the needs of the child."

Read the report in full here

The commission said the findings of the report reinforce the importance of an effective and functioning National Referral Mechanism (NRM).

The Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking Act 2024 provided for a statutory NRM designed to establish a formal, multidisciplinary framework for identifying and supporting victims of trafficking.

This would see state agencies and NGOs, alongside An Garda Síochána, having responsibility for identifying victims of trafficking.

However, the commission said it is "seriously concerned" that more than two and a half years since the legislation was passed it has not yet been enacted.

The commission said the legislation is "crucial" as victims of trafficking, especially children, are unlikely to self-identify as victims.

Mr Herrick said: "The National Referral Mechanism is intended to provide a clear pathway to identify, refer and protect victims of trafficking. For children, that pathway must be child-centred and multidisciplinary.

"The 2024 Act was the product of years of work and scrutiny, and we are deeply concerned by the indication [by justice minister] that it will not now be commenced as provided for.

"This report tells us that children are already being missed. At this point, we should be strengthening the systems that enable identification and protection, not stepping back from them."

Children in state care and unaccompanied minors particularly vulnerable

The report also identifies children in state care and unaccompanied minors as facing heightened protection gaps and exploitation risks.

IHREC said that children who are being criminally exploited can be particularly difficult to identify as victims.

Read more:
'Sharp fall' in public trust over fair human rights delivery - IHREC

A child involved in drug dealing or other criminal activity may initially be viewed as an offender rather than as a child who has been groomed, coerced or exploited.

The commission said this underlines the importance of a child-centred, trauma-informed and anti-trafficking approach across all services.

The research also highlights the growing role of information and communication technologies in child trafficking and exploitation.

Stakeholders reported that social media, online communication tools and gaming environments are increasingly being used to target, recruit and control children.

IHREC said policy and practice must keep pace with these developments, including through stronger digital investigation capacity, cross-sector cooperation, training and measures to prevent online exploitation.