5 Feb 2013, 16:29
The Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality will continue its hearings on submissions received in relation to the review of prostitution legislation tomorrow, Wednesday 6th February 2013 when it meets with the editor of RTÉ’s Investigations Unit Paul Maguire and representatives of An Garda Síochána.
Committee Chairman David Stanton, TD, said: “Last summer, the Minister for Justice and Equality referred a discussion document on the future direction of Prostitution Legislation to the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. The Committee invited written submissions from interested groups or individuals in relation to this review and received more than 850 submissions.
“Tomorrow, we will continue our hearings when Paul Maguire will appear before the Committee. Last year, the award-winning RTÉ journalist produced and presented the Profiting From Prostitution documentary on prostitution in Irish towns which dealt with the serious issues of criminality and the exploitation of women involved in the sex industry. Given his investigations and reporting on this area, we will be particularly interested in getting his perspective on our legislation.
“We will also hear from members of An Garda Síochána who are responsible for the implementation and policing of laws in this area to get their input into our review.
“This will be the fourth in our series of hearings as we engage with a wide variety of people and organisations working with those involved in prostitution to get their views on what changes they would like to see as part of any review.
“As part of our work in this area, members of the Committee have already met with fellow parliamentarians in Sweden to discuss their experiences of the drafting and implementation of its legislation on prostitution which criminalised the purchase of sexual services rather than the sale of sexual services.”
This meeting will start in Committee Room 2, Leinster House at 3.15pm on Wednesday, 6th February.
Committee proceedings can be followed live at: http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/watchlisten/
For further information please contact:
Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 3903
M: 086-0496518
F: +3531 618 4551
Committee Membership
Deputies:
Niall Collins, Michael Creed, Alan Farrell, Anne Ferris [Vice-Chairman], Seán Kenny, Finian McGrath, Jonathan O’Brien, John Paul Phelan and David Stanton (Chairman).
Senators:
Ivana Bacik, Paul Bradford, Martin Conway, Rónán Mullen, Denis O’Donovan and Katherine Zappone.