Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We also tabled an amendment calling for a review within two years.

On the trafficking issue, it is important to note that Norway, which has a similar system in place, carried out a review of its legislation in 2014. It found that its law was actually leading to sex workers becoming increasingly dependent on traffickers and exploitative third parties. The number of cases of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation reported in Norway did not change significantly between 2006 and 2014 after the change in the legislation, with 34 cases reported in 2006 and 37 in 2014.

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien was probably being nice to the Minister in saying that the Government was allowed to review it in less than three years. However, she would forgive us for suspecting that the Government would wait for the full three years before looking at it. Given that there are so many issues with the Bill from our point of view and from the point of view of the sex workers, and given the serious lack of sound evidence that the Nordic model has a positive impact on the people it claims to protect, I would rather see it being reviewed no later than two years after enactment.

The proposed Government report will include information on arrests and convictions made in this regard and an assessment of the impact of the operation of the section on the safety and well-being of persons who engage in sexual activity for payment. However, no details have been provided on how this assessment will be made or who will be consulted. We have repeatedly made the point that the voice of sex workers is absent from the Government's work to date, which is disappointing given that this is the very group the Government claims to want to support. The law should make specific provision to include sex workers and their representative organisations in any review.

Last night, I mentioned the Queens University survey of sex workers in Northern Ireland, which has been ignored by our Government and sadly also by the Northern Ireland Executive. Obviously, the findings are not in tune with the ideology driving the legislation down here. That Queens University report found that 98% of sex workers surveyed opposed the Swedish model; 61% felt this model would make them less safe; and 85% said this legislation would not reduce sex trafficking. The PSNI also expressed concern that this legislation would be unlikely to be effective against exploitation. Only 8% of clients surveyed said that criminalisation would stop them paying for sex.

We should review it earlier. Too many issues are at play, mostly relating to the fact that the sex workers have not been given any voice. I reiterate some of their main points. They insist that the Swedish model negatively impacts on the human rights of sex workers and further pushes people away from the police. That has to be a big problem. We are not taking on a harm reduction approach. As Deputy Bríd Smith said earlier, forcing people to work in isolation cannot be good. I do not understand the rationale. People who even use their own home can be addicted and obviously the legislation will not make it safer for immigrants who face the potential of being deported. Given what we are going into, there does not seem to be much evidence to suggest this is a good idea. It should be reviewed earlier because it is totally unfair to the sex workers, who also have rights that are sadly being ignored.

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