Ms Lucy Smith:

The committee asked about a group of women who featured in an RTE documentary and what had become of them. There was no information given as to what had become of them. What had become of those women at that point was that they had been stalked by the Sunday World. Photographs of them in an undressed state had been taken pervertedly. One lady's breast was on the front page of the Sunday Worldone week. They were being prosecuted North and South for brothel-keeping. That is what became of them but we never hear the truth of what becomes of these people.
There is no independent research into sex work in Ireland. All the independent research has come straight from the Magdalen laundry orders and it is this which allows the completely false picture of sex work to persist. All the statistics have been discredited, including the statistic of an average age of 14 years. The author of the study from which that statistic was used, Professor Melrose, has stated that it has been wrongly used by Turn Off the Red Light. There have been wild claims about child prostitution. The Minister for Justice and Equality has clarified that these statistics do not relate to children in prostitution.
We must improve policing. We must have Garda sex work liaison officers. We must examine good practice with regard to sex work policing. Policing is decidedly important in combatting abuse within the sex industry and sex trafficking. We should be examining the Merseyside model. We need to stop giving all the State funding for support to sex workers and sex trafficking victims to Ruhama. The Magdalen laundries are very wealthy and they do not need this money.