Ms Nusha Yonkova:

The Immigrant Council of Ireland has enclosed legal opinion on penalties that was prepared for us by Dr. Alan Brady. He looked extensively at our penal system and has proposed something that could serve as a basis for future debates. What we are recommending at this stage is not a high level of penalty but one that is comparable with the amount of money men are ready to pay, for example, for unprotected sex in more high-class agencies. It has been pointed out in many pieces of research that a really efficient deterrent for men would be notification to their families, places of employment or addresses they submitted to the authorities, and that is also recommended by us as part of the penalisation procedure. It is applicable. It is possible.

It is true that potential offenders may not have recourse to legal aid. That is an additional deterrent. It is true that their families may find out about their behaviour, which is unacceptable not only because it is an offence but simply because of what it is. This is a further deterrent. All of these small steps will serve the final purpose. However, the complete analysis is available to the committee.