I was reading the in the daily mirror and i came across an article that that gardai are been urged to target punters who pay for sexual favours from street girls,similar to laws that are currently in sweden..heres the gist of it....

The imigrant council of ireland believes the no. of women on the game will fall if detectives target men who pay for sexual favours.It said a similar initiative that is proving to be a success.
Swedish law makers have crimilised the purchase of sexbut not the sale of sex.The ICI pointed to an evaluation report that found that the number of vice girls have halved in the past decade in sweden since this law was brought in.The human rights charity believesthe same sort of results can be achieved here.Recent research showsone in 15 men in ireland has paid with illict sex with a prostitute.And morethan 2/3of sexworkers operate outside dublin in rural areas.The majority of prostitutes in ireland and foreign nationals and more than 95% are drug users.
The ICI said these women are the real victims of the seedy underworld sex trade.An evaluation report called the prohibition of the purchase of a sexual service:an evaluation 1998-2008 was carried out by the chancellor of sweden.The commison took evidancefrom women cyrrenyly in prostitution,ones who had left the sex trade,police and social workers.
It found the law acted as a barrier against the estabishment of traffickers and pimps in sweden-another problem in ireland.It also led to a reduction in organised crime.