Ivana Bacik (Independent)
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I am pleased the Minister of State is present to deal with this question, given his long-standing commitment to the issue of prostitution law reform. It was a pleasure to work with him on the justice committee on the important reform we introduced in 2017 to change our focus as regards prostitution and to criminalise or the purchaser. The question I am asking relates to the previous law. I am asking the Minister to provide statistics on the number of prosecutions and convictions for prostitution-related offences on an annualised basis from 2013 to 2016, inclusive.

I have a long-standing interest in this, both from an academic point of view and as a legislator, and we brought in an important and positive reform in 2017 but I am keen to complete the statistical picture of the way prostitution offences were prosecuted under the 1993 law, which the justice committee found to be flawed and in need of reform when we reported on this in 2013. The report, which paved the way for the 2017 Act, provided a snapshot of prostitution-related offences and of prosecutions and convictions for prostitution offences in 2012. In the previous year, the Department of Justice and Equality had produced a discussion document with a table of CSO-derived statistics on recorded prostitution offences from 2004 to 2011. I am asking the Minister of State to complete the picture by bringing us up to date with details of offences between 2013 and 2016. I have contacted the CSO and I am very grateful to it for its help. It took over the statistical recording of crime in 2005 and it is doing a very important and meticulous job, but it has only been able to send me statistics up to 2014.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality who, unfortunately, cannot be here this morning. I thank Senator Bacik for highlighting this issue and for her work on this matter over many years, which I know she will continue to do.

The statistics sought by the Senator in this Commencement matter were compiled by the Central Statistics Office, which is responsible for the publication of the official recorded crime statistics. In this context, I assure the Senator that An Garda Síochána continues to monitor all new and emerging crime trends on an ongoing basis, including those related to prostitution offences, so that optimum use is made of Garda resources and help is provided to tackle this form of crime. First, I take this opportunity to explain that there are two sets of statistics provided with this text, of which Members should all have received a copy. The information provided in the first table by the CSO refers to incidents of prostitution. These are situations where An Garda Síochána has made an arrest under one of the headings set out below. Figures relating to prosecutions and convictions for prostitution-related offences have been provided by the Courts Service and are also appended to the text. The Minister hopes that the Senator finds these statistics useful.

Senator Bacik will be aware that the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 was enacted on 22 February 2017 and I take this opportunity to remind the House of the provisions of that Act as they relate to prostitution-related offences.Part 4 of the Act provides for two new offences of purchasing sexual services in the context of prostitution. The purpose of these offences is to target the demand for prostitution. This part also removes those who provide sexual services through prostitution from the existing offences of soliciting and loitering for the purpose of prostitution. Part 4 of the Act was commenced on 28 March 2017.

The Act itself, and the provisions referred to in particular, recognise the exploitation experienced by those involved in prostitution and decriminalises them. Its enactment marked the culmination of a long campaign aimed at tackling the abuse and exploitation which is so widely associated with prostitution. The Minister and I take this opportunity to acknowledge the big role of Senator Bacik in that campaign, and all members of the House who recognise the vulnerability to exploitation and abuse of those involved in prostitution.

The new offences under the Act are a general offence of paying to engage in sexual activity with a prostitute, which carries a penalty of a fine of up to €500 for a first offence and fines of up to €1,000 for a second or subsequent offence, and the more serious offence of paying for sexual activity with a trafficked person in the context of prostitution, an offence which carries a potential penalty of up to five years imprisonment and-or a fine. In both cases, the person selling or, in the case of a trafficked or exploited person, being forced to sell the sexual service will not commit an offence.

Section 27 of Part 4 requires a report after three years on the number of arrests during that period in respect of the new offences as well as an assessment of the impact of the offences on those who provide sexual services for payment. The Minister believes that three years is the minimum period in which systems and practices can be effectively bedded down and operated so that reliable conclusions can be drawn from the information gathered for the review. That report, of course, relates to the effect of legislation from the date of its commencement on 27 March 2017, and as such is not of immediate relevance to the matter before the House but will be an important milestone in terms of measuring the effectiveness of a new approach to dealing with prostitution and the exploitation linked to it. The two tables provide the information sought by the Senator and there is no need for me to go through the figures as they speak for themselves.

Ivana Bacik (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for the information he has provided and for the tables of data which I will go through with great interest. I also thank him for his kind comments. I note, as the Minister of State said, this is an ongoing issue and I thank him in particular for speaking in a little more detail about the requirement in the 2017 Act for a report after a three year period on the number of arrests during the period in respect of the new offences and an assessment of the impact of the offences. I look forward to that report, and I certainly look forward to working with the Minister of State in the interim to ensure the Act is working well and is effectively tackling the demand for prostitution, which was our aim in putting forward the legislation. I should have said one of the most important aspects of the reform, which the Minister of State rightly pointed out, is not only that it has criminalised the purchase of sexual services but, of course, that it has decriminalised those engaged in selling sexual services. It is explicitly, therefore, recognising the exploitation experienced by those engaged in prostitution. That, of course, was a hugely important part of our report and of the legislation. I thank the Minister of State for this and I look forward to working with him.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for her contribution and I will be sure to pass on her comments to the Minister. Returning to Part 4 of the Act, and specifically section 27, I must advise the House the exact nature of the report mandated under the new Act has yet to be decided. Related to this, I am aware that officials in the Department of Justice and Equality have been engaged in discussions as part of a civil society-led working group to support the implementation of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, together with other stakeholders including representatives of An Garda Síochána and the HSE.

At the weekend, I was in Brussels and I had an informal engagement where I was informed on what is happening in France in this regard. I want to draw the Senator's attention to this because it has enacted legislation in this regard which has been quite successful, but it has a slightly nuanced approach to it and I was quite interested to learn about it. I might speak to the Senator about it at another time.