Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Justice and Equality to the House. I am very grateful to him for coming in to respond to the matter I have put down, namely, what mechanisms for gathering data exist regarding the operation of the new prostitution-related offences of purchase of sexual services under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 and how it is proposed to record instances of the new offences and to measure the impact of the new law overall. In the week after the Facebook revelations have emerged, I am conscious that any question about gathering data sounds somewhat suspect but, clearly, this is a very important question relating to how we can measure the impact of the new offences introduced in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act. Today marks the first anniversary of the enactment of the 2017 Act.The anniversary was marked earlier outside the gates of Leinster House by a group of organisations. I pay tribute to the great work they did over a number of years to bring about the change in the law. I pay particular tribute to the Turn Off the Red Light campaign, Ruhama and the Immigrant Council of Ireland among others. I worked with all of them on the justice committee, as did many colleagues. A committee recommendation ultimately led to the enactment of the new offence of purchase of sexual services.

However, I am conscious that a three-year review period is built into the Act and one year has passed. The organisations are seeking to ensure adequate resourcing and training of gardaí to operate the new offence successfully, and my party colleague, Deputy Sherlock, will ask questions in the Dáil about that. My question relates to the measurement of the impact of the new offence. Denise Charlton of the UCD sexual exploitation research project, who was very involved in the campaign to change the law to criminalise purchase of sex, has pointed out that solid data are needed to ensure the law is working. I note concern on the part of the Immigrant Council of Ireland and others that the progress in implementing the law and making it part of policing practice has been slow to date. There is concern about issues such as accommodation for victims of trafficking who often end up living in direct provision centres. While anecdotally we hear from Ruhama and others that women feel safer because they are not being criminalised, given another effect of the legislation was to decriminalise the selling of sexual services, we do not have access to relevant data to ascertain how the Garda is enforcing the offence of purchase of sexual services. For example, have arrests been made under the new legislation? Have there been any recorded instances of the offence? Have there been prosecutions, although I do not believe there has been? Such basic policing data would be helpful. That is the reason for tabling the matter and I have done so on a particular date, which is the first anniversary of the enactment of this important legislation.