Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I welcome that she is prepared to meet with them. That is positive. This is a group of women represented by the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland who have come forward to point out the vulnerability of women who find themselves in this position during the Covid pandemic. They are asking for assistance in helping vulnerable women. It has nothing to do with child trafficking or the elements that the Minister mentioned and it has nothing to do with my morality. We have not criminalised the women; we have criminalised the purchase of sex. We are going to review that to see if it achieved the objectives that it set out to achieve. I welcome that, but the Minister has not given a date for the publication of that report. Will it be public? Going back to the matter in question, we are talking about a small sum and bringing transparency to the Department's policy regarding how money is allocated, the criteria for it and where it can be accessed.

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