Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tá áthas orm go bhfuil mé ag fáil deis labhairt ar an mBille fíor-thábhachtach seo. Cuirim fáilte roimh na haíonna speisialta atá anseo.

I commend all the individuals involved in framing this legislation, those who lobbied on behalf of the various groups and people who have been the victims of these crimes. The groups in question include the Immigrant Council of Ireland, the National Women's Council of Ireland, the rape crisis centres, Ruhama, the INMO, ICTU, those involved in the Turn Off the Red Light campaign and others. I welcome to the Visitors Gallery those from the groups to which I refer who are able to be in the House today. I also wish to commend the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality on the work it has done in respect of this issue. My colleague, Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, has worked very hard on the committee and he would concur with the thoughts of those that have been mentioned previously.

Prostitution is a vicious, exploitive and brutal criminal enterprise which allows pimps, traffickers and thugs to take millions out of the Irish economy by trampling on the rights of others. The organised crime which lies at the heart of Irish prostitution and human trafficking has been well documented, not just by the Garda but through multiple media investigations, the experience of front-line support agencies and, most importantly, the testimony of those women and girls who have survived this evil trade. The fact that the debate on this legislation is taking place is a tribute to the bravery and courage of those survivors. I refer, in particular, to people who sacrificed their privacy in order to relive their ordeals and make this Bill a reality. I want them to know that Sinn Féin and, indeed, Members on all sides of this House this evening stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with them.

While I have a general welcome for this Bill, I am keenly aware that this debate is overdue. The legislation before us will restore the all-island approach to combating these crimes that was broken when laws targeting the buyers of sex became a reality in the North on 1 June.On that date, six counties on our island moved ahead of the rest of us in wrecking the business model for pimps and traffickers. Indeed, I note that the Immigrant Council of Ireland recorded a steady increase in online prostitution along the Border in the weeks running into the commencement of the laws in the North. To take one example, the number of women for sale online in Dundalk increased by 85% as those behind the trade moved their business to the safety of the South. As the law took hold, there were 26 women profiled on escort websites in Dundalk, while ten minutes over the Border in Newry there was just one. This cannot continue.

The figures for sex trafficking speak for themselves. The US State Department "Trafficking in Persons Report", released earlier this year, found that Irish authorities initiated 79 trafficking-related investigations last year, up from 56 in 2013. Some 46 suspected victims were identified, most of them victims of sexual exploitation. Through its front-line services, the Immigrant Council of Ireland last year supported 20 women, with a further 11 new cases so far this year. Almost without exception each survivor tells of being placed in prostitution as a girl. As with all crime, it is difficult to get an exact figure on how much these crimes cost our country but figures range from €180 million to €250 million a year. To put it another way, sex buyers are putting an estimated €600,000 a day into the pockets of thugs. In fact, the sex trade is now only second to drugs in terms of financing those behind Irish crime.

We know that targeting demand can crush this activity. Sex buyer laws are a reality from Sweden and Norway to Canada, as well as in major US cities and, as I said, most recently in the North. Laws are also expected in France by January, while targeting demand for sex trafficking is backed by both the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. Sinn Féin representatives were proud to back such measures both in Stormont and in Brussels.

There is one area, however, where the legislation before us does not meet best international standards. It is wrong that those who have been exploited and abused in prostitution could end up being treated as criminals. That is unacceptable. The decriminalisation of the seller was a key plank of the Stormont legislation and one for which Sinn Féin fought hard. When the Oireachtas justice committee issued its unanimous recommendations on laws covering prostitution it could not have been more clear. It wanted a full package of measures where the buyer faces the law and those being sold are offered support and protection, not running the risk of ending up in a Garda cell or in court. That package of measures is commonly referred to as the Swedish model, and the police, social services and politicians in Sweden cannot be more clear that the model involves decriminalisation. I welcome the commitment of the Minister today to deal with this by amendment and urge her to do so as a matter of urgency.

At the outset, I referred to this legislation as historic. It is - not for us in this Chamber but for those survivors watching, some of whom are in the Visitors Gallery today. It is not good enough to listen to their stories with sympathy. They want us to act. I urge all Members to do that and let us join the growing list of countries criminalising buyers, not sellers. We support the Bill but we intend to bring forward amendments on Committee Stage.