Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will try not to take too much time. I would like to speak on one or two of the specific concerns raised by Senator McDowell and by my colleague, Senator Ruane, and then I will come to why I have reached the position of supporting the criminalisation of the purchase of sex. I want first to address the question raised about aiding and abetting. Currently, no prosecution has taken place of the purchaser using the argument that they were aiding and abetting. We have some precedent to look to which suggests that it would be unlikely that it would be used when we effectively flip the balance of criminality in this case. The background shows that this argument has never been used to prosecute purchasers, who may have been seen as aiding and abetting under the previous situation.

I also wanted to address------