Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps the Minister might clarify this, but it is my reading that it is" a person who without lawful authority or reasonable excuse fails to comply with a direction" under section 7A(1) as inserted in the 1993 Act in section 25. As section 7A(1) refers to a person who pays, gives, offers or promises to pay, my reading is that it only relates to the purchaser of sex but perhaps the Minister can clarify that. It references back to section 7A(1), which makes it very clear that it is not with regard to the sex worker herself or himself.

I take on board what the Minister said on amendment No. 11. Will the Minister comment on amendments Nos. 14 to 16, inclusive, which try to give some protection to sex workers who work with another sex worker for their own safety? I understand fully we are speaking about a very small number of individuals when we speak about people who give their consent. While the legislation is primarily directed at victims of trafficking and exploitation and targets the pimps and organised criminals who exploit and traffic those individuals, we also have to recognise that a small number of individuals who are involved in sex work give their consent and are not trafficked, coerced, harassed or exploited. Amendments Nos. 14 to 16, inclusive, try to recognise this small group of people do exist and try to give them some protection from the legislation proposed. If these amendments are not acceptable to the Minister, how do we propose to give some protection to these individuals who want to work in pairs for their own safety?

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