Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the concept of this Bill and my party fully supports the criminalisation of the purchase of sexual services. The matter was discussed at two Ard-Fheiseanna and motions on it were passed by the grassroots of my party. The Children's Rights Alliance rightly states it knows from the testimony of prostitution survivors and women who have been trafficked that children are being abused in brothels. We are concerned about the use of the word "consent" and how it can be defined. There are issues, on which we may table amendments on Committee Stage.

A total of 73 organisations made submissions to the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality and I fully concur with the thrust of the committee's report. I acknowledge the significant work done by my colleague, Senator Ivana Bacik, in this regard. Are we to ignore submissions made by organisations such as Ruhama, Turn Off the Red Light and the INMO which stated, "Ireland must act now to end the demand for exploitation and, at the same time, decriminalise those who were prostituted so as to facilitate their access to vital health care and support services". My party has consistently supported efforts to eradicate prostitution in Ireland and put an end to the human trafficking the sex industry fuels. In government we passed the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 which criminalised the human trafficking of persons for the purposes of sexual exploitation. It is now clear, owing to the changing nature of prostitution, that we need legislation to criminalise the purchase of sex. We must take cognisance of the "Prime Time" programme, Profiting from Prostitution, which was broadcast by RTE a few years ago and highlighted the appalling treatment of migrant women trafficked into Ireland and forced into prostitution.

We fully support the work of the Turn Off the Red Light campaign to have our laws strengthened. In this regard, I was contacted by at least 100 young women aged between 18 and 23 years, some of them students in my constituency of Cork South West, urging me to support legislation and proceed to along the lines on which the Government had embarked.

The nature of prostitution in Ireland has changed dramatically in the past decade. Street prostitutes who are the most visible face of prostitution have been largely replaced by off-street prostitutes who can be contacted over the Internet or by telephone. The massive explosion in the number of foreign prostitutes operating in Ireland compared to a decade ago raises a question about the extent of the trafficking of women into and within Ireland for sexual exploitation. According to Garda testimony before the justice committee which we cannot ignore either, the number is estimated at 800 women a day; a year long RTE "Prime Time" investigation estimated it at 700 a day, while on any given day, regular checks of websites, chat rooms and forums by the Turn Off The Red Light campaign show that as many as 1,000 a day could be involved in prostitution. The issue at stake in the Bill is the exploitation of these women and the need to develop a fresh approach to the problem. An attempt was made to portray sex trafficking as modern day slavery, but it is more sophisticated than that. People are not brought here in containers or chains; they arrive at Dublin, Cork or Shannon airports, often under false pretences relating to work, a relationship or marriage, etc. It is only outside the terminal when their passports, documents and money are taken from them and within hours they are placed in a brothel that reality dawns.

In 1999 Sweden was the first country to pass a law that prohibited the purchase of sex. The rationale for the offence was rooted in the belief prostitution was a serious barrier to gender equality and that it caused serious harm to those involved in prostitution, as well as to wider society. A high level inquiry headed by a Swedish Supreme Court judge in 2010 showed that since the introduction of the ban, street prostitution had halved, which contradicts what Senator David Norris said. In 1995 the estimated total number of women involved in prostitution was 3,000, 650 of them on the streets. In 2008 there were 350 prostitutes advertising on the Internet and 300 on the streets. The law in Sweden assumes that prostitution is incompatible with contemporary values and a serious problem which can and should be abolished.

We have come a long way. My party supports this legislation and I am a member of the justice committee. I have issues with the legislation, but this is not the day to deal with them. I have been contacted by Rape Crisis Network Ireland regarding tabling amendments on Committee and Report Stages and I may do so. The thrust of the Bill, however, is worthy of support. I am concerned about the comments of those who say this is not an open and transparent debate. The justice committee put a great deal of work into considering this issue and the legislation is not a knee-jerk reaction. The issue has been in the ether not only in my party but also in other parties. The Bill might not be the silver bullet or the utopian answer, but we can protect some of the women who are in slavery as prostitutes. There has been no mention in the debate by those who oppose the legislation of the pimps or traffickers who control the women involved. They are operating openly with disdain and no respect for the law, society and the authorities.