Ms Lucy Smith:

No, in the United Kingdom the way the Ugly Mugs system works is that it has an ability to feed intelligence into the police database. When someone makes a report she can tick a box allowing details of the offender to be shared. This is then recorded in two police databases, one of which is a database of serious sexual offenders which is used for intelligence purposes, while the second is the north west regional hub, which is subsequently distributed to local police forces. The details recorded relate only to the offender, rather than the sex worker. The police will then contact Ugly Mugs in the UK and ask whether they can speak to the victim. This request may then be facilitated. Ugly Mugs in Ireland does not have a facility to feed information to the Garda. If such a facility were in place, we would use it.