Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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A key purpose for the 2017 Sexual Offences Act was to provide additional protection to persons involved in prostitution, especially vulnerable persons and victims of human trafficking.

It allows those engaged in prostitution to provide information to Gardaí, for instance if they were subjected to violence by clients, without fear of prosecution for selling sexual services. Section 27 of the 2017 Act provides for a review of Part 4 of the Act 3 years after its commencement.

Given that the goal of the legislation is to protect vulnerable persons, the review will include consideration of whether further measures are needed to strengthen protection for persons who engage in sexual activity for payment.

As part of the review, an online public consultation was opened and contributions were received from a broad range of organisations with different perspectives.

My Department commissioned an independent consultant to undertake this statutory review but, due to a number of reasons, it was not possible for the review to be completed within the desired timeframe.

The Department are considering the best options to conclude the review in a timely and thorough process and I expect to be in a position to decide on the next steps in the near future so that the review can be completed without any further undue delay.