Harris wants date for completion of prostitution laws review
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Department of Justice officials have been asked by Minister Simon Harris to agree a completion date for a review of prostitution legislation with the review’s lead researcher.
Under the Sexual Offences Act 2017, those who offer their services as a prostitute are no longer committing an offence.
Part 4 of the legislation introduced two new offences — the payment for sexual activity with a prostitute, and paying for sexual activity with a trafficked person.
It also significantly increased penalties for brothel keeping — two or more sex workers selling sexual services from the same premises — to a €5,000 fine or a jail term of up to 12 months.
Under the legislation, provision was also included for a review of the measures after three years. The terms of reference were published in July 2020.
The review is to include an assessment of the impact of the Act on the welfare of those who engage in sexual activity for payment.
Meanwhile, after the Oireachtas justice committee recommended in October that the Ban on Sex for Rent Bill 2022 should not proceed through the Dáil because of concerns with the legislation, the Departments of Justice and Housing said that legislative proposals will be considered when recommendations from the review of Part 4 of the Sexual Offences Act 2017 are made.
It followed an investigation into sex for rent practices by the .
The review of Part 4 of the Sexual Offences Act 2017 was due to be finalised late last year. However, the review has not yet been completed and there is no date for its finalisation.
Now, Simon Harris has asked officials in the Justice Department to engage with the study lead to “agree to a final completion date for finalisation of the report while of course respecting the independence of the review”, according to a spokesman.
He said the delay in finalising the report was because the study lead had also been working to complete another study. He said that study has been finalised and submitted to the minister “and it is understood that their attention has now returned to the Part 4 review”.
He added: “Once received, any recommendations made in the report will be considered as a priority.”
Rape Crisis Network executive director Cliona Saidlear said the review is a critical tool in ensuring the success of the legislation around prostitution is implemented well.
She said: “This is a very new piece of law in terms of practice and in terms of how it is implemented. The big thing for us is that we are using it properly. We campaigned for this tool to meet some very critical needs and what the review will tell us is, have we put enough resources behind it; is it working the way we thought; is it having the outcomes we thought it should have and we hoped it would have?
"They are really important questions because we are dealing with very vulnerable people and we are also dealing with high levels of criminality.”
She added: “This review is important in terms of moving us to the next stage in terms of does this law work in the way we want it to work. What do we need to do to make it worth better?”