THE targeting of international drug traffickers and crime syndicates was a top priority for the EU, the Minister for Justice told the conference of the European Movement. The European Drugs Unit's powers were to be extended to cover paedophiles and suppliers of children for sexual exploitation and a programme was to be set up for the exchange and training of people dealing with this area of crime, she said.
On this week's bail referendum, Mrs Owen said it was "an opportunity for Irish people to make changes in their laws which are appropriate and balanced and in keeping with the European Convention on Human Rights".
A recent survey throughout the EU had pinpointed drugs and organised crime as a top priority. Irish women believed that the EU's most important task was to tackle drug trafficking, a priority shared by women in Britain, Italy, Sweden and Portugal, said Mrs Owen.
Ireland had identified drugs as a major priority of its presidency and work was progressing on a number of key measures. The Extradition Convention was signed at the Justice and Home Affairs Informal Council held in Dublin in September. Other measures included:
. The exchange of information between forensic science laboratories on the chemical profiling of drugs seized to enable enforcement authorities to trace the source of illegal drugs and provide better information about which drugs are being abused.
. A directory of operational skills, knowledge, expertise and training to facilitate optimum co operation between law enforcement agencies.
. A programme of funding for exchange of personnel, training and research in law enforcement, complemented by funding programmes to assist in the detection of false documents and to facilitate the exchange of judicial personnel.
. Action on sentencing for serious drug trafficking offences.
Mrs Owen said: "We have seen the tangible benefits of the Garda, Customs and the Department of Social Welfare working together. Each individual country must work to get the institutions of their own countries co operating, before cooperating with agencies in other countries. Eastern European countries are fertile grounds for these kind of criminals.
"They are struggling to come out of years of oppression and there is a temptation that people who are out of work might be hived off to work for criminals. Some criminals are using chemists and other professionals who cannot get work to manufacture drugs. These countries must not be picked off by criminals."
The protection of children from sexual exploitation was now a serious concern in European member states, she said. The Irish presidency recently tabled a motion in the wake of the Belgian paedophile scandal to extend the power of the European Drug Unit to cover trafficking in human beings.
Mrs Owen told the conference: "When the horrors of Belgium became exposed to us all, a small group of police were able to go to Belgium who had built up experience in this area in the Fred West case. I believe that this is the way we should go."