Frontline agencies representing victims of sex trafficking have called for an independent rapporteur to assess how effectively victims are being supported.

Victims of trafficking are, “without exception”, completely impoverished when they try and access state services, research suggests.

The Oireachtas justice committee is to recommend that the purchase of sex be made a criminal offence.

All sorts of people are clients of prostitutes — from “members of the Oireachtas to down-and-outs” — a leading specialist on sexually transmitted diseases has said.