Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 368: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality following his indication in the autumn that officials in his Department were preparing a detailed consultation paper to facilitate the consultation process to help inform the future direction of legislation on prostitution in Ireland, if he will clarify which officials within his Department are engaged in preparing the aforementioned consultation paper; the progress made in the three months since; if he will provide the date when a public announcement will be forthcoming on it and indicate an opening and closing date for when submissions may be made by the public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2165/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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1As indicated by the Deputy, I announced in October my intention to arrange a consultation process to help inform the future direction of legislation on prostitution. I also stated at that time that I am concerned to ensure public debate on this issue is open to the widest possible audience. For that reason, a detailed discussion document to facilitate the consultation process is being prepared.

Drafting of the document, which is progressing well, is being co-ordinated by the Criminal Law Reform Division of my Department. The Department's Anti-Human Trafficking Unit and Crime Division are assisting in this work. You will appreciate that the paper, if it is to fully inform the public, needs to be prepared carefully. At this stage, I expect that the consultation document will be ready for issue before the end of January. This, of course, is subject to resources having regard to competing priorities, including legislative priorities.

As indicated in my press release of 17 October, I will make a further public announcement when the consultation document has been completed. At that point, full particulars regarding the arrangements and time frame for making submissions will be provided. However, I would like to assure the Deputy that ample time will be given to enable members of the public prepare and submit views on this issue.