Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 279: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to introduce legislation to criminalise the purchase of sexual acts; his further plans to criminalise the acts of pimping, procuring and trafficking of persons for sexual exploitation; the stage of advancement of these plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10492/11]

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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Question 289: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to introduce legislation criminalising the purchase of sexual acts, thus making it illegal to buy sex, and decriminalise those persons who are prostituted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10582/11]

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Question 290: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when he will release the report he has received from the Attorney General on the visit by an Irish delegation to Sweden in September 2010 in respect of the sex industry. [10591/11]

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Question 291: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to introduce legislation and criminalise the action of buying sex. [10592/11]

Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 293: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when he intends to publish a Bill regarding sex trafficking and the penalisation of the purchase of sex; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10604/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Question Nos. 279, 289 to 291, inclusive, and 293 together.

It should be noted that under the criminal law as it stands at present, it is not an offence, in itself, to sell sex. In general, it is not an offence to purchase sex either. Consequently, neither party to the transaction is currently criminalised. Any proposal to amend the law in terms of criminalising the purchase of sex would require very careful examination. In this jurisdiction, the criminal law governing prostitution is aimed at protecting society from the more intrusive aspects of such activity from a public order perspective, while also seeking to protect prostitutes from exploitation.

Under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993, it is an offence to solicit in a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution. The offence can be committed by the prostitute, the client or a third party - a pimp, for example. The Act also provides for offences such as organising prostitution, coercing or compelling a person to be a prostitute, knowingly living on the earnings of a prostitute, or keeping or managing a brothel. In addition, the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008, which criminalises the trafficking of persons for the purposes of sexual exploitation, makes it an offence to knowingly solicit or importune a trafficked person, in any place, for the purpose of prostitution.

In 2010, the Swedish Government completed an evaluation of its 1999 legislation criminalising the purchase of sex. The Dignity Project arranged a visit to Sweden in September last year to learn more about the evaluation and the delegation included representation from my Department. The Dignity Project was a research project funded by the EU. An inter-agency and inter-jurisdictional initiative led by the Dublin Employment Pact and the Immigrant Council of Ireland, it examined services provided to victims of human trafficking with a view to replicating best practice models in partner countries. My Department's Anti-Human Trafficking Unit and the Garda National Immigration Bureau were partners with observer status.

I will be examining a report prepared by my Department following the visit to Stockholm and which was submitted to the Attorney General's Office. I will also be examining the Attorney's recent advices concerning the legal and constitutional implications of introducing a ban on the purchase of sex. It will be appreciated that I have not yet had the opportunity to consider the report, including the question of its publication, and the advices received.