THE law is used to target those who provide sex for payment than those who buy it.

Under the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1935 it is against the law to have sex with n minor. Sex with somebody between the ages of 15 and 17 is a misdemeanour, under the age of 15 a felony. However, Detective Bernard Owens of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Investigation Unit says he has never heard of any prosecution against a man for engaging in sex with an underage prostitute.

In 1983 Irish laws on prostitution had been relaxed so that a prostitute could not be prosecuted for soliciting; she had to be found having sex with a client and accepting payment before a conviction could be brought. But in 1993, as part of the legislation decriminalising homosexuality, the laws governing prostitution were once again "toughened" and soliciting became an offence.

In 1995 there were 38 arrests countrywide relating to loitering or soliciting under the Sexual Offences Act. Of these, 26 resulted in convictions. Paying for the services of a prostitute doesn't have a crime category in the Garda figures - it is mixed in a category called "others", along with, for example, sex with a mentally impaired person, organising prostitution or owning a building in which prostitution has taken place. There were 16 convictions in this entire category in 1995.