Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will start. Fianna Fáil supports the Bill and I am delighted to speak on it. I thank the Minister for progressing it. It shows leadership and a process of change which is important in the context of many of the provisions in the Bill. However, there is scope on Committee Stage to strengthen certain parts of the Bill. I am sure the Minister is open minded about amendments that will be tabled by various Members. It is welcome that the provisions are being put forward on a legislative footing and that we are codifing many important facets of our law where there are many lacunae, recommendations of Oireachtas committees and directives of the European Council and European Parliament. I particularly welcome section 8 on trying to prevent the exploitation of children. The Minister mentioned a number of provisions around coercion, IT and child pornography. It is important that the State acts properly and decisively on a legislative footing on what is a core problem in Ireland, Europe and beyond.

The Bill replaces the public indecency provision in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act which dates all the way back to 1935, and criminalises the purchase of sexual services. Fianna Fáil supports this important measure. Having met with various expert groups and individuals in the area, including Denise Charlton of the Turn Off the Red Light campaign last week, I am aware of the support for it. My party will continue to work towards ending human trafficking in Ireland. In 2008, the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act saw dedicated anti-human trafficking provisions established in the law enforcement agencies and health services. Significant numbers of women were given vital help through these bodies. In the intervening years, the nature, approach, operations and scale of prostitution and abuse of women and children has transformed dramatically, with street prostitution largely replaced by an underground industry which is more sophisticated, ruthless and harmful, and highly profitable, and it is important that many of the measures in the Bill are enacted quickly in order to target it. The increase in the number of foreign prostitutes operating in Ireland compared to a decade ago raises questions around the extent of trafficking of women into and within Ireland for sexual exploitation. What Deputy Róisín Shortall mentioned about the recent case in Galway is evidence of how prostitutes are being used as a front by pimps and people who operate on an underground basis. It is important we tackle such cases to ensure we are not prosecuting the most vulnerable. It is important we get to the bottom and reach the people who are using them as a front for the operation.

The precise scale of the sector is not well known. Various groups estimate that there could be anything from 700 to more than 1,000 sex workers operating each day. Proper information is vital so we can get a handle on the growing issue. What is most pressing is the need to stop the exploitation of these people, and the Bill is a necessary response to the need to develop a fresh approach to all this. The degradation and exploitation of many of these women is shocking. Trying to flip our laws towards tackling the purchase goes some way, although not all the way, to trying to address the problem. Equally important, although not contained in the Bill, is the need to commission another report on sexual abuse and violence in Ireland, another SAVI report. The original SAVI report was release in 2002, and was crucial to the delivery of the Ferns, Ryan and Murphy reports, which followed and revealed in horrific detail the scale of the sexual abuse that has occurred. The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and various Oireachtas committees have recommended a fresh report. Surely, after 14 years, a new report is well and truly overdue.

I am happy to support the specific protections the Bill contains for children in the area of combating the sexual exploitation and abuse of children and child pornography. The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, ISPCC, has welcomed the Bill, given that it offers greater protection to the youngest and most vulnerable in society. The ISPCC has also warned that the lack of risk assessment guidelines and provision for post-release supervision are worrying omissions. There is room to work on, and I am interested to know what the Minister has to say about it. I am concerned about the deficiency of support for victims of sexual violence in the Bill. The National Women's Council of Ireland, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and One in Four are all concerned that there is no definition of consent in the Bill. Deputy Josepha Madigan mentioned it in her contribution and I am happy that she said the Minister is examining it. In the week when the fascinating RTE documentary, "Asking for It?" by the writer Louise O'Neill highlighted in very stark terms the lack of education, understanding and knowledge in this area I share these concerns. A statutory definition of consent would be effective in tackling stereotypes about what constitutes rape. Such a definition exists in other jurisdictions and we should consider it very carefully.

The Bill also covers the issue of counselling notes and their role in the criminal justice process when somebody is accused of rape or sexual assault. The idea that defence counsel can access this information and try to use it to discredit the victim can have the effect of a victim suddenly becoming the one on trial and having very personal details revealed in a court setting. It is important we examine the provision very carefully to ensure we do not disincentivise women from coming forward and make a very difficult situation worse. I have concerns about it. This can have an incredibly traumatic effect on a person who is already feeling extremely vulnerable. While it is welcome that the Bill ends this fishing exercise, it does not altogether ban defence teams from accessing counselling notes. Rather, they must make an application and argue why it is relevant to the case, which may adversely impact on somebody in a particularly acute and sensitive situation. If victims of sexual violence think something as private as their counselling notes could be aired in court, it could render victims unwilling to come forward and report sex crime. The Bill represents a golden opportunity to address it and properly protect all victims of sexual violence.

I welcome the fact that the Bill makes it illegal to cross-examine a person under the age of 18.

We should consider if this right could be extended to all victims of sexual violence, as is the case in England and Wales. The thought of a victim having to undergo a verbal assault by the person who physically assaulted him or her or a defence team is particularly horrifying. As part of the future examination of the Bill on Committee Stage, some amendments must be constructively examined to make this the right Bill for the long term. We should not push into future legislation any of the positive measures that many of the Deputies across the House are suggesting. As we all know in the context of this Dáil, the legislative process has been especially slow and it has been difficult to get even this legislation progressed over recent months. It is important, now that we are here, to make every effort to make this the best possible legislation to help those in particularly sensitive and difficult scenarios in their lives. We must give them protection and tackle those who exploit the most vulnerable in society, those who are trafficked and the children who are most vulnerable.

My colleague, Deputy Lisa Chambers, will speak next but I reiterate that Fianna Fáil fully supports this Bill and feels there are further measures that could be taken to strengthen its potential legislative effect.

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