Part 4 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 included a clause requiring an independent review to be prepared and published within three years of the controversial law coming into operation.

Solicitor Maura Butler SC was appointed in 2020 to lead the independent review, which was repeatedly delayed, including as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Butler later stepped down from the role and the Department of Justice announced just over a year ago that it would complete the review by itself, despite criticism from a sex workers’ group.

A final report is expected to be presented to government ministers “very shortly”, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice told The Irish Times.

A similar ban on the purchase of sex was introduced in Northern Ireland in 2015, along with a requirement to conduct a review of its operation within three years.

The review, carried out by researchers at Queen’s University Belfast, was published in 2019 and concluded that it had “minimal to no effect” on the market.

The report also noted that most sex workers interviewed over the course of the research, and as many as three-quarters of those who had previously been a victim of crime, felt that sex work “has become more dangerous” since the implementation of the law.