David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not making a Second Stage speech; I am directly addressing the amendment.

The research findings from Northern Ireland continued by stating the proposed law aims to criminalise the buyer but not the seller. It noted the sex workers interviewed for the study felt this did not reflect the reality of selling sex and that sex workers feel criminalised under the current law that, for example, does not allow sex workers to work in the same location for safety reasons, as this could be classed as brothel-keeping. The findings continue by stating:

They do not see how criminalising clients would reduce the pressure of criminalisation on them. Our results suggest that criminalising paying for sex would be ineffective in reducing demand. Only 7% of clients said they would stop paying for sex altogether if it was criminalised.

That is the effect of it; 7% would stop. What about the remaining 93%?