SENATOR MARY White faces expulsion from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party for refusing to vote for a motion calling for the criminalisation of people who pay for sex.
During a Seanad debate on Tuesday night, Ms White said Senators should not be too hasty in saying that the purchase of sex should be criminalised.
She was speaking on a motion from a group of Independent Senators that was backed by Fianna Fáil but opposed by the Government. Ms White voted in favour of a Government amendment, which was carried by 29 votes to 13.
Voting against the party whip entails automatic expulsion from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.
Ms White has been asked to attend a meeting today with the party chief whip, Seán Ó Fearghail, to discuss her situation.
During the debate, Ms White said she firmly supported the campaign to end sex trafficking in Ireland, but she intended to support the Government’s amendment because the motion was too hasty.
“Within my own party I have seen decisions being made too hastily to criminalise purchasers of sex,” she said.
“Realistically, this has been going on since the beginning of time. We have to face reality. I am not condoning it, but since the beginning of time sex has been purchased.
“There is a case for saying that women are perhaps being protected from rape because in some countries, prostitution is legalised.”
Ms White said that to simply criminalise the purchase of sex after a short debate would be totally wrong. What was needed was a national debate on the issue.
“In order to have a national debate, we must listen to the other side of the argument.”
She said she had received e-mails from the Turn off the Red Light campaign representing sex workers who argued that criminalising the purchase of sex was not the answer and would only serve to drive the sex industry further underground and make it more dangerous for everyone.
“As a true democrat, I believe there should be no hasty legislation. I know I am right. That is why I support the Government’s amendment recognising that legislation alone is not effective in preventing prostitution,” she said.
“Why are men out there daily, from every strata of society, seeking quick sexual satisfaction? I would like to know why that is.
“Apparently, many of them are very happily married, so there is something deeply wrong if they are living double lives,” said Ms White.
Minister of State for Health Kathleen Lynch said it was inevitable that there would be conflicting views about a proposal to criminalise the purchase of sex and it raised complex issues.
She rejected the view that a law in Sweden criminalising the purchase of sex could be brought into Irish law.
“A provision in the substantially different constitutional and legal framework of one jurisdiction cannot be simply transposed into another jurisdiction’s constitutional and legal framework,” she said.