Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I will refer to it in a moment. She states that no one knows if there are fewer prostitutes. That is not surprising as the law could only serve to drive prostitution underground. It has been said that some of the neighbouring countries complain about an increase in the demand for prostitutes in there. The question is extremely complex. One former prostitute is quoted as saying that underground profiteers, pimps, and traffickers flourish under the new laws and that prostitutes would naturally prefer to avoid such people.

The authorities in Sweden admit that traffic has increased a little since 1999 but that it is lower than in neighbouring countries. Sweden's national rapporteur on trafficking has estimated that the number of prostitutes has more than doubled. It seems that prostitutes in Sweden must operate more secretly and therefore feel more vulnerable. The purpose behind the Swedish law is to treat prostitutes as victims and it is ironic that the very people the law seeks to protect may not necessarily benefit from that law.

People have criticised our laws governing prostitution but few have suggested practical or thoroughly thought-out alternatives. The laws criminalise public soliciting which should reduce the number of prostitutes working on the streets where they are most vulnerable and which is one of the purposes of criminalising demand. The prostitute, the client, or a third party can solicit in public and from a motor vehicle. Public place is given a wide meaning in the legislation. Running or managing a brothel is also an offence, for which there have been several recent prosecutions. The law protects prostitutes from persons living off their earnings or organising or controlling prostitution and advertising of the services of prostitutes and brothels is banned.

The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is monitoring legislation here and in other countries. If it can find changes in the law that would reduce the level of prostitution, would not drive it underground where prostitutes would be more vulnerable, and would not make it more difficult to apprehend persons who profit from the prostitution of others, it will bring forward proposals for such changes for public discussion. The Department is not dismissing out of hand the Swedish law or questioning any statistics or comments. On the contrary, it is monitoring its effectiveness as part of the overall continuing review of the laws governing prostitution. I hope that outline of a complex area can give some idea of the conflicting views on, and the difficulty of dealing with, this issue. The Department is considering the adequacy of other legislation and whether we can draw up plans that will achieve the outcomes we all desire. This requires a great deal of public discussion and debate.

I cannot accept the amendment as Senator Mullen outlines it.