Ireland

Ireland adopted the Nordic Model through Part 4 (sections 25–27) of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017, which inserted Section 7A into the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 to criminalise the purchase of sexual services. The same Act doubled brothel-keeping penalties. The statutorily mandated 3-year review was assigned to solicitor Maura Butler SC in 2020/2021 but stalled repeatedly; Butler stepped down in July 2023 and the Department of Justice completed the review in-house. The review was finally published on 25 March 2025 by Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan and acknowledged that "demand has not decreased" since 2017, yet declined to recommend repeal. In October 2025, TD Ruth Coppinger (People Before Profit) introduced a private members' Sex Work Decriminalisation Bill drafted with SWAI, Red Umbrella Éireann and the Street Workers Collective, but as of May 2026 the government continues to back the Nordic Model.

Enforcement is concentrated in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway via the Garda Organised Prostitution Investigation Unit (Operation Quest) and the Garda National Protective Services Bureau. The "two-person brothel" trap is the most documented harm: in a 2019 Naas District Court case, Romanian nationals Adrina Podaru (25) and Ana Tomascu (20, pregnant) received 9-month sentences for sharing a flat in Newbridge — no clients present and no significant money seized. SWAI and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission document that brothel-keeping prosecutions almost exclusively target young migrant women rather than traffickers. The DPP directed 161 prosecutions for purchase of sex between January 2017 and August 2024.

Advertising prostitution is a criminal offence under Section 23 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, so all major advertising happens via offshore platforms — Escort Ireland is hosted in the UK and corporately owned through Spain to sit outside Irish jurisdiction. A Stormont-led cross-border probe announced in January 2026 has invited An Garda Síochána to give evidence on enforcing the advertising ban.

Ireland is in the EU/EEA, NOT in Schengen, but participates in the UK–Ireland Common Travel Area. Non-EU visitors need to meet standard visitor rules; sex work is not a visa-permitted activity and immigration outcomes for migrant workers caught in brothel-keeping prosecutions have included deportation alongside criminal records. Shared-premises bookings can be used as evidence in brothel-keeping cases.

Escort Ireland (escort-ireland.com) is the dominant directory, operating from outside the Republic to evade s.23. Smaller listings circulate via Tryst, AdultWork and X.

• SWAI — Sex Workers Alliance Ireland
• UglyMugs.ie — safety/reporting service (16 languages)
• HIV Ireland — sexual health services