Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There were 30 oral submissions as well. All of the different arguments were put forward to the committee. The committee made clear recommendations. We have based the legislation on the key points that were made by the committee.

I met the association of sex workers. I listened to its members, talked to them and heard their point of view. I also met sex workers who, as Deputy Coppinger has said, completely and totally support the legislation. They told me that they have experienced extraordinary exploitation in Ireland and would have welcomed a route out of prostitution at a much earlier stage. The Deputy rightly made the point that many of the women who are in prostitution are there because of addiction and poverty. The vast majority of sex workers in Ireland at present are organised by criminal gangs. That is the reality of the industry. Let us be clear about that on this committee.

I want to address the points made about the human rights of sex workers but I shall first make a point about the industry as a whole. Regardless of whether one takes the approach of this legislation, for those who are involved in the industry - because of its very nature, the core assumptions around it and the core ways women are treated in it - there is a huge amount of violence. In fact, evidence shows that whether one takes the approach I recommend here, or the opposite, there is not much difference in the levels of violence people experience. In New Zealand, where there has been decriminalisation, it appears that adverse incidents, including violence, continue to be experienced by those in the sex industry. There is conflicting evidence on whether violence is reported more often since decriminalisation but there has been and continues to be a marked reluctance among sex workers to follow through on complaints. That is the reality of the industry the Deputy is talking about. I absolutely accept the point, and I discussed this matter yesterday with the Council of Europe, that one needs to do whatever one can, in terms of services, to provide exit routes for women who have been caught up in the industry unwillingly.

Deputy Wallace raised a point about human rights. He asked whether the criminalisation of the purchase of sex violates the human rights of sex workers. That is effectively what the Deputy said. I do not believe that it does. I understand the concerns that have been raised about the potential impact of criminalisation on the purchase of sex on the safety and health of sex workers. The measures that I have proposed target demand for sexual services and thereby aim to reduce the overall number of persons involved in prostitution. This approach has been brought in by quite a number of countries recently and in Northern Ireland just some time ago.

The seller of sexual services is not criminalised in recognition of the fact that the seller, as I have said, is often a vulnerable person. There is evidence that the numbers involved in prostitution is far lower in Sweden compared with nearby countries with full decriminalisation. The Netherlands is estimated to have around nine times the rate of prostitution as Sweden and Germany is estimated to have around 30 to 40 times the rate. There is no conclusive evidence that the Swedish approach has an adverse effect on the safety and health of sex workers.

I should note the Department and I are supporting organisations such as Ruhama that work with women. Ireland offers free confidential health care services. There is no reason to believe that the extent to which these services are currently accessed by those providing sexual services would be reduced by this proposal. Support services are provided to sex workers who wish to exit prostitution or to people currently involved in the industry by organisations such as Ruhama. Many years ago I was one of the first people to support funding for Ruhama because of its important outreach work.

I am happy to put into the Bill provision for a review of the legislation. I envisage a short period before reporting back on how it was working and what were the figures. There is a need to offer additional supports to women and men who wish to exit prostitution. I will not go into the details of the funding but an increased amount of funding has been given to the organisations that work in this area like Ruhama and the south inner city local drugs task force. The committee should note there was a 10% increase in funding in 2016 and I will outline more facts for members. Ruhama's annual report of 2015 showed that 301 women were given support and assistance and 228 women were given care and case management. It is important to note that out of the 228 women, as many as 94 women were identified as victims of sex trafficking by Ruhama. Trying to bring people to justice in terms of trafficking, as we have already discussed, is extremely difficult. Ruhama also supported women through a programme of street outreach. As many as 103 women accessed services for the first time in 2015 and 27 of them were suspected victims of sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is very real in Ireland right across the country. It is interesting to note that out of the 228 women that Ruhama helped, 37 were from different countries. Many women have been brought into the country and in the vast majority of cases criminal gangs have trafficked them here for prostitution. That is the backdrop to the legislation.

The amendments proposed do not address the situation where a person is forced to engage in sexual acts for his or her own profit. I must say the person is being exploited and used as a front for somebody else. Therefore, I cannot accept the amendments.