Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 29:

In page 17, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following:“(3) The Minister shall collect data to review the operation of this offence and report to the Houses of the Oireachtas after this offence has been in effect for two years. In particular the report shall set out—

(a) information on the nature and extent of prostitution connected to human trafficking including numbers of arrests and convictions during the period covered by the report in connection with an offence under this section or section 2, 4 or 5 of the Criminal Law(Human Trafficking) Act 2008,

(b) the extent to which, in the opinion of the Minister, this section has operated to reduce human trafficking, and

(c) the impact of this section on the safety and well-being of prostitutes”.”.

My amendment would require section 20 of the Bill criminalising the purchase of sex to be reviewed and voted on again after two years by the Oireachtas. It is a very reasonable suggestion and, if it believes the law will result in a reduction in the number of people engaged in sex work and incidences of trafficking for sexual exploitation, I cannot see why the Government would oppose assessing its effectiveness in two years' time. According to Amnesty International, the criminalisation of sex work is increasingly being recognised as a human rights concern. The United Nations special rapporteur on the right to health has called explicitly for the decriminalisation of sex work. The final report of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, an independent body convened by the UN Development Programme on behalf of the joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, has made the same call. The commission deliberated over a two-year period, undertaking extensive analysis and research including seven regional dialogues on the links between legal frameworks, human rights and HIV.

Sex Workers Alliance Ireland, represented in the Visitors' Gallery by Ms Kate McGrew, suggests two years would give an accurate picture of the impact of the legislation to adequately assess it. We must allow time for gardaí to be issued with guidelines around enforcement. A two-year period would provide the Garda with enough time to establish enforcement and the Government with enough time to commission an independent evaluation. There is zero evidence from Sweden that sex work has decreased since the introduction of the criminalisation of the purchase of sex, as there has been no consistent monitoring, independent research or evaluation of the legislation there. The Swedish Government's report evaluating criminalisation between 1999 and 2008 provided no data or evidence to prove that the levels of sex work had decreased or increased.The report stated, “Altogether, this means that we can feel somewhat secure in the conclusion that prostitution as a whole has at least not increased in Sweden since 1999.” No data or evidence is provided to back the statement in any way. As a result, the report is highly questionable. This is a highly complex policy area. We must ensure Ireland does not make the same mistake as Sweden and fail to adequately monitor the outcomes and impacts of our laws. This is why I propose the amendment to insert an operational review of section 20 into the Bill to ensure we have consistent, independent evaluation of this and other legislation related to sex work at regular intervals.

Sex workers tell us that where this law is implemented it makes their lives more difficult, and they often have very poor relationships with the police and support services. HIV Ireland and the World Health Organization, WHO, have expressed serious concerns over the impact of such measures on health care access and HIV rates. Ireland's HIV rate increased by 11% last year. This is very serious, and we need to do more to reduce HIV rates, not introduce laws which increase HIV rates, according to research by The Lancetand the WHO. We need this review of the legislation to ensure we monitor and assess the impact the law will have on health. It is a nonsense to criminalise the purchase of sex. It is a coalition between extreme feminists and right-wing fundamentalists. I am entitled to my opinion.