Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As somebody who was, with Senator Bacik and others, a member for five years of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality, I worked extensively on the report. I came down very much on the side of what is being proposed. That was after many hours of consideration. I respect Senator McDowell and the arguments he has made, which might be well intentioned, I do not agree with them.

There was a "Prime Time" television programme about three or four years ago, produced by a gentleman, whose name, I think, was Paul O'Brien, that showed that prostitution was a systematic, well-organised and dangerous business involving the most vulnerable people in society. It showed there were a small group of highly organised criminals making tens of thousands a week by regularly transferring innocent, young and mostly foreign girls from one town to another. It was shocking, upsetting and very distressing.

As with all legislation that comes to this House, and Senator McDowell knows this well, if issues arise, they can be addressed and the legislation can be tweaked. That is why we have an Oireachtas, because laws change all the time. He has painted scenarios about young men coming up from the country and their lives being ruined and issues of blackmail. If, in the fullness of time, these scenarios present themselves, if people are blackmailed and if blackmail becomes an unintended consequence of this legislation, we can deal with that. This legislation has been on the political circuit for some time now and we owe it to the most vulnerable people in society to enact it and to ensure, as my colleague has rightly said, that the resources are put in place to ensure the lives of the people who need this most will be improved. The unintended consequences can be dealt with if they occur.It is new in Northern Ireland, but it is working in other countries. The arrangements in those countries are not perfect, but they are a damn sight better than what we have here.