There are no recorded convictions for half of those who buy sex

Of these, 18 people were instructed to pay into the poor box.

In addition, the case of one person charged in connection with ‘brothel keeping’ was dropped, while the case of three people was dropped for payment for sexual activity with a prostitute.

Last year, more than 1 million euros was paid from the poor fund to charities throughout the country.

A spokesperson for the Courts Service said:

There are many reasons and examples why the right arm box is used by judges for offenses at the lesser end of the scale.

“The suspect may have never been before a judge, the suspect may have pleaded guilty, a conviction may be inappropriate, or have a negative impact on employment or prospects of working abroad, and the crime may be of a mild or less serious nature.”

A review of sexual offenses laws is likely to be completed before the end of the year.

Under the Sexual Offenses Act 2017, those who offer their services as sex workers are not committing a criminal offence, but keeping brothels is a criminal offence.

Part 4 of the legislation introduced two new offences: payment for sexual activity with a prostitute and payment for sexual activity with a trafficked person.

Linda Kavanagh of the Sex Workers Alliance of Ireland said the figures are “proof that the law is not working”, with a small number of people being prosecuted and sex workers fearing prosecution for brothel keeping if they are caught with another sex worker.

She also raised concerns about letters received by public representatives in Kerry which contained photographs of sex workers and addresses where they operated in local towns.

She said: “Should we remind people that sex work should be decriminalized in Ireland?

“Monitoring women going to a workplace by an anonymous group is harassment.”