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INDEPENDENT WEXFORD TD Mick Wallace has argued for the legalisation of prostitution – saying that he believes the welfare of women working in the sex trade would be significantly improved if the trade was not forced underground.
In an interview with this fortnight’s Hot Press, Wallace – a building developer by trade, who also devotes much of his time to his Wexford Youths soccer club – argued that there would always be a demand for the services of prostitutes, and that the demand could be better regulated if it was carried out on a legalised basis.
“There’s been prostitution on the planet since time began – and it’ll always be here,” Wallace explained to John Murray on RTÉ Radio 1 this morning.
“If you think, it’s a better scenario [than] where the girls work in very poor conditions, get very badly treated, and live in fear of the pimps that control them all the time.
“Plus, clients decide to use prostitutes that aren’t always in as healthy a state as they should be, because there’s no health controls on it… It doesn’t actually make sense to have it illegal,” Wallace continued.
It’s going to exist anyway, [we should] get used to it… I think the girls would be exploited less through a legal system than through an illegal system.
Wallace extended a similar logic to the legalisation of cannabis, having declared his support for fellow independent Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan who was yesterday forced to quit smoking the drug while in Ireland, for fear he could be arrested and unable to support his children.
Cannabis now being imported into Ireland was sometimes being sprayed with plastic in order to increase its weight, Wallace claimed, by way of offering an example of how unregulated drug imports were posing a major health risk.
If the drug was legalised, the Revenue Commissioners would be able to levy its sale and could put those funds towards drug prevention programmes, he said.
“I’m not saying for a second that abuse of cannabis isn’t going to cause problems – [but] abuse of anything is going to cause problems.”
Asked if he was a cannabis user himself, however, Wallace said that while he had tried the drug in the past, he did not smoke it now.
“I like a pint of Guinness and some nice red wine, that does me fine,” the 57-year-old said.
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And we have this man managing the health service and he can’t even run a nursing home he owns properly!
Comment of the year
Did you actually read the article which shows that he only has a 25% stake in the home and that he has NO management capacity either?
@David Higgins
To repeat what you just stated, “he has 25% stake in this nursing home. So he gets no income from this? If he was to ‘sell’ his 25% stake he’d take nothing. Grow up David. 5% stake is still 5% I agree with you sometimes but your statement here makes no sense!
Of course he’d get something if he sold his 25% stake….
I never tried to say otherwise.
“Reilly does not have a management capacity in the Greenhill home; HIQA records list Dr Dilip Jondhale and Dr Vasudha Jondhale as the registered service providers in that facility.”
I do sometimes wonder if people actually read the whole article or just the headline before posting their comments.
Wow! And this is the guy everyone believed with his ’5 Point Plan’ !!!! Then you give away your sovereignty because these clowns asked you to…fools
Not one single person here has mentioned the elephant in the room………… This is the ultimate in ‘conflict of interests’. Government Ministers should not be allowed to own a business that they can change and make legislation for, simply put it is corruption. Anyone who voted for Reilly just perpetuates this corruption. Minister for justice Alan Shatters position is the same, here we have a Justice Minister with a huge family law practice who profiteers out of peoples misery yet who can legislate to make the business even more profitable.
Well so what you’re saying is that we can’t have Doctors as Health Minister or Lawyers as Justice Minister. They’re all bound to either have some conflicts themselves or have friends/colleagues who they may like to see benefit too.
Hypocrisy of the commentators on here is astounding as usual. Most criticise our cabal of schoolteachers running government departments, saying experts should be running them. And then when there’s a Doctor running Health and a solicitor running Justice, they are criticsed for having a conflict on interest.
When will this nursing home be closed after all Roscommon A&E was closed on Lies and HIQA never even went inside the Door and James Reilly gave false figures on the Fatality rate Liars is all this Government are
For once I actually agree with you Bernadette!
Except Roscommon was really closed to save money. That was the reason they gave at the start until everyone got mad with them so they made up the false fatality figures and pretended HIQA had recommended closure (both of which the govt later admitted were false).
So that’s why Reilly’s nursing home won’t be closed. HIQA had nothing to do with Roscommon’s closure.
Couldn’t agree more with you bernadette!
Absolutely dead right Bernadette. They are liars and would do and say ANYTHING to get their own way.
Reilly has a 25% interest in this Home , he does not manage it , but does he not go to meetings regarding his investment ? Who manages the managers ? Of course he has a say in how it is run and how much the budget is re staff, heat, food , etc etc…. What ? Does he think we came down with the rain today ?
No, HIQA had absolutely nothing to do with the Roscommon A&E closure it was most definitely Kenny and Reilly just shaft Denis Naughton or why else did Kenny announce it on the day of Denis’s opening of his C.O.
Is this not an example of corrupt conflict of interest? How can he have private investments in a business he legislates on?
In fairness he probably has bigger fish to fry. He has a stake in it, but probably isn’t the manager!
He should grill his fish instead
@Stadler Waldorf
The fact that he has a ‘stake in it’ is all the more reason why he should be keeping an eye on it! He is earning money or his wife and children are earning money from the HSE/families of these OAP’s. The owner of Leas Cross received over EUR4million from bertie aherne and mary harney and look what happened there!
Money grapper, just like the rest of them. They will still have their TD’s pension, their Ministerial penion and a huge bank account from all his other interests eg, nursing homes. The so called manager of Leas Cross, Graine Conway received a salary each month for doing what? and is probably still in the same type of work to this day. God help our aged. Thank God my parents have passed. Unfortunately my father’s passing was sooner than it should after spending 2 weeks in the hell hole Leas Cross.
Minister Reilly needs to remember what he is, firstly he’s a father, he’s a son, he’s a doctor. Please Minister Reilly, remember where you came from!
If it was our mum or dad in the home I think your view would change.
Did anyone actually read the article? It says he has a ‘blind trust’ arrangement – a necessity on account of a potential conflict of interest. Therefore he is not entitled to interfere in the running of the business. He is essentially a silent partner. @Stadler I assume that is what you are getting at. For him to intervene would compromise his position – people would be saying that the minister is looking after his own. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. The management of the home have a lot to answer for, it would seem.
I learned one thing today, I use that shopping centre in Lusk not any more.
I never spend another penny in he place.
I know Doctor death doesn’t need my money but he’s not getting it anyway.
Hungover Brendan Grace strikes again.
Greenhills is one of the better homes out there in fairness. Hiqa’s rules are very tight, most homes would be in breach of a few, it’s all about keeping up standards.
Of course it is. What sort of message would it send out if it wasn’t and the minister for health is involved in it.
Fools
One of th better homes Seriously – one patient didnt get their medication for 8 months!!!! If that was one of my parents I’d go to the police to see if I could have them charged with criminal negligence and then I’d sue them. The only thing he is interested in is the sound of ka ching.
The residents of all Nursing Homes deserve the best attention especially from owners.
Ann, I can only speak from previous experience with greenhills, pretty much if something is out of line there regarding our area of expertise, they normally get it done without question. A book could be written on some other places I can tell you.
Regarding the 8 months, that is terrible if true
@Alan Beirne,
Just like F Fail, bertie aherne and Leas Cross! People, ask John Aherne received the contract for his nursing home? (EUR4million), Has businesses in his name, his wife’s name, sons etc. How did John Aherne receive planning permission for houses for family members and Leas Cross? Yet, other people that came from the same area, farmers sibblings couldn’t get planning on their own land? I better say “Allegedly”!
This guy is useless and full of hot air. His biggest priority is to stop people enjoying a smoke in the park while out walking their dog. When that point was put to him on primetime all he kept saying was think of the children. His main ambition is to get his name in the history books like Michael Martin and not fix the HSE. Check out his mansion in today’s Sunday Independent page 5. He gets paid to live there. Unbelievable …
Where did he say his biggest priority was banning smoking in public areas? It’s a proposal, that’s all.
So much for private services being better than State services. Wonder how the plans to hand the health service over to private interests is going?
I’m sure there are plenty of HIQA reports which show breaches of these rules too. One case doesn’t change everything.
private better than public nursing homes are you mad!? maybe hospitals but definitely not nursing homes
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