Mr. Liam Doran:

I cannot add a great deal to that. Anyone who would venture to suggest that prostitution can be termed work in any reasonable definition or interpretation of that word, or in terms of the role of trade unions in representing workers, is grasping at straws in order to defend a vested interest in maximising profits at the expense of vulnerable people. We would never be able to accept that a prostitute could be viewed as a worker with the type of rights expected in a civilised society in terms of collective bargaining, periodic reviews of wages and annual leave entitlements. I do not think these rights would surface because it would not be a contract of equals. Any contract between a worker and an employer must at least hold out the perception of being a contract between equals. The exploited prostitute in a vulnerable situation would not be an equal and could not be deemed a worker.