Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I am always pleased to see good ideas taken up and I compliment Fine Gael and, in particular, Deputy Denis Naughten, for his comments on the need to criminalise the purchasers of sexual services from people in prostitution. As Members will be aware, last week I brought forward this idea as part of a more wide-ranging Private Members' motion on the needs of victims of human trafficking. I am very pleased it is now Fine Gael Party policy and that we would see such legislation in this country following the model pursued successfully in Sweden, Norway and Iceland to help make the country a cold house for traffickers of human persons by tackling demand in the area of prostitution. I give credit to Fine Gael on this issue.

I listened with interest to the remarks of Senator Bacik on the ongoing debate on education. There are rumours that Senator Bacik might think of getting even closer to the Labour Party, if that can be imagined. If she does so she may wish to note Labour's very sensible statement on the matter, as reported in The Irish Times, that "Labour is committed to the establishment of a genuine pluralism in our school system that would enable parents to make the choice they want for their children in so far as that is possible".