John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)

While I broadly welcome the Bill, I will comment on some aspects of it. Part 2 will amend the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 and enable the Legal Aid Board provide legal advice to victims of human trafficking. While I welcome the extension of legal aid I do not believe the measure goes far enough as it does not extend the right of representation in court to those victims. These are the most vulnerable women imaginable. They were brought out of their own country on the pretence of having a better life here and then subjected to brutality and enslavement.

There are two groups operating in this area. The first, Turn Off the Red Light, opposes all forms of prostitution and from which we have had representation while the case of the second, Turn Off the Blue Light, I have met its representatives who believe in legalised prostitution in a managed way.

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