Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

Following on from Tuesday night's "Prime Time Investigates" programme and other exposures of criminality, will the Leader inquire if the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources will introduce legislation governing the sale of SIM, subscriber identification module, cards? It is a disgrace that one can walk into any mobile telephone shop to buy any number of SIM cards without any trace or accountability, particularly given that in other countries one needs a passport or other form of identification. In recent documentaries and programmes such as the RTE series "Raw", it has been shown how criminals throw away SIM cards from their mobile phones after committing crime. We have had incredible advances in telecommunications in the past decade. Practically every citizen has a mobile telephone. However, there are twice as many SIM cards as there are mobile phones. Questions must be asked about what is going on with so many SIM cards.

On Tuesday's "Prime Time Investigates" programme, we saw poor unfortunate women trafficked from Romania and other countries to work as prostitutes here. The advances in telecommunications have assisted and benefited this most heinous crime. We need a system to tighten up on the sale and distribution of SIM cards. One has to be 18 years old to buy cigarettes or alcohol but one can be any age to buy a SIM card.

I commend Senator Zappone on her excellent presentation on Tuesday's "Prime Time" programme on Clare local radio this morning. This House has led the way in introducing legislation to deal with prostitution. We must keep our foot on the pedal-----