Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister and his presentation. I agree with him that it is right that, irrespective of the wording of this laudable motion, he should await the outcome of the consultative process.

I was particularly pleased he made reference, without an over-emphasis, to what has been generally referred to as the Swedish model as if it was somehow the panacea to all of this. I have done some limited investigation on the Swedish model which suggests that while great strides have been made since the 1999 legislation and while there is a cultural change, in particular among men, in the sense that the rate of usage of prostitutes is significantly lower, prostitution has not gone away in Sweden. In fact, it is still operating. It is no wonder it is called the oldest profession in the world.

One of the things in which I would be particularly interested from an Irish perspective is the support services provided while prostitution continues. I know it is against the law but other jurisdictions have taken not so much a liberal approach to this but a humane one and have accepted the reality of it. I am not sure what the support services are but I am referring to health services, drop-in centres and such like.

I refer to the victims of trafficking. As the Minister said, under the law prostitutes can be, and are, legally sanctioned. Are there any provisions in the Minister's discussions to encourage those who are trafficked to come forward and to be of assistance to the Garda? Perhaps this is already being done but I am not aware of it. Perhaps it is being done under the radar.

In the context of the experience of other countries, if the law was more humane towards those who were trafficked, they would be encouraged to name and shame those who trafficked them, took their passports and whatever else and to assist the legal agencies here to prosecute those people. Those are the sorts of issues in which I am particularly interested.