Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----they can approach the authorities, that help and support are available to them and that they are not criminals by virtue of having been lured or forced into this industry. The great majority of those involved in this industry are involved in it for reasons of poverty or addiction.The amendment criminalises the buyer, which is an appropriate response. That enables gardaí to properly tackle the issue in a proactive and realistic fashion.

I thank the Senators who have spoken on this. While I appreciate that people have come to the issue with different perspectives, the issue of prostitution is one that has been with us for a very long time. To suggest that we continue to approach it as we always have does not stand up to scrutiny any more. There are movements across the world to address the issue differently. The Swedish and Northern Irish approaches are being adopted here. As Senator Healy Eames has said, this is a good day.