Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality

Review of Legislation on Prostitution: Discussion

2:25 pm

Ms Jacqueline Healy:

I want to emphasise the point about support, which I mentioned earlier. This cannot work unless there are support services for women. That came across in the conference on prostitution last month. We talked to people in the delegation from Sweden and emphasised that the supports needs to be in place. We cannot let women in a vulnerable position be thrown out on the street with no support or, as the Deputy mentioned, deported. Support must be part and parcel of any legislation introduced.