Mr. Paul Maguire:

Last February RTE broadcast a "Prime Time" special programme, Profiting from Prostitution, which investigated certain aspects of prostitution in Ireland. Under normal circumstances as an investigative journalist, I would investigate a particular story, we would make the programme, broadcast it and leave it at that, making no further comment. I wish to state for the record that as a journalist I am not here to make a submission, nor am I expressing any personal opinions about current legislation or the current review of legislation being undertaken by the committee. Last year I was invited by a number of Senators and Deputies to brief them on the statistical findings from the research that was carried out in the making of the programme. Again today, in attending the hearing I am happy to brief the committee on the findings of the research, and reiterate I am not expressing any personal opinion or making a submission.

In February 2001, "Prime Time" broadcast a special report into prostitution in Ireland. The programme followed almost a year of intensive investigation and research during which we used technology to trail hundreds of women who were being moved all over Ireland on a daily basis. In order to determine the level, or what we saw as the level, of organised or forced movement of women in this country we created a database which recorded every single movement of every escort every day, as advertised on the Internet. Over a 12-month period the database indicated a high level of organisation and management behind the movement of hundreds of women every week right across the country. On average, during the period in question when we were monitoring the Internet, 438 women either moved or were moved every week.

Further analysis of the figures reveals the level of organisation behind the movement of these women. In the period in question 446 women moved from Cork to Dublin, while in the same period exactly the same number moved in the opposite direction. A further 358 women moved from Galway to Dublin, while 354 moved in the opposite direction. There was a movement of 295 women from Belfast to Dublin, while 291 moved from Dublin to Belfast. The pattern is repeated for every town and city. It was a coincidence that the figure for the number who moved from Cork to Dublin and Dublin to Cork was the exact same. The pattern shows that usually there was a difference of between five and ten in the numbers. The figures are an indication of a much bigger movement of women and the pattern is repeated across every town and city.

During the 12 month period during which we looked at this issue in advance of the programme, in excess of 8,800 profiles were advertised on websites. The daily average number of women advertised was 693. The figure varied depending on the period. Around Christmas time, the figure might go down, while during the summer it would go up. Some of the 8,800 profiles were possible duplications or represented individuals who used two or three profiles to advertise different services. The average age of the women advertised was 25.1 years. Of all escorts advertised, 19.36% were 21 years old or younger. Almost half advertised themselves as being 25 years of age or younger. Of the women, 97, or 1.1%, of the total number were advertised as being Irish, while 283, or 3.2%, were advertised as UK citizens. The vast majority, 95.69%, were advertised as foreign nationals. When we investigated further, we found that many of those advertised as foreign nationals were not, in fact, revealing their true nationality. For example, many women from poorer eastern European countries - Romania, for example - were advertising themselves as being Spanish or French. The number of women advertised as working for an agency was just 67 or about 0.76% of the total. The vast majority, 99.24%, were advertised as working for themselves as independent escorts. Our research revealed that this was completely untrue. Most of the women we interviewed or otherwise researched were working for a pimp or some kind of organiser. They were not working independently.

Another indicator of the level of organisation involved comes from the evidence we gathered on mobile phones. During the 12 month period of the investigation we found through the Internet that in excess of 7,300 mobile phone numbers were being used. More interestingly, we discovered a linkage between 5,168 of these phones. In some cases, they had multiple users at different times and there were multiple profiles. In other cases, despite being used at different ends of the country - one in Cork and one in Belfast or Dublin, for example - the mobile numbers were just two digits apart. We are told by mobile phone operators that SIM cards are sold in packs of ten with sequential numbers. Statistically, the odds of two numbers one or two digits apart appearing at different ends of the country are astronomically high. It does not make sense that two numbers from the same pack of ten SIM cards, two digits apart, are used for prostitution and one appears in Cork a couple of days later. That is just one example and the pattern is repeated across the country. That is about as much statistical information as we have available.