GARDAÍ HAVE confirmed they are investigating reports of massage parlours selling sexual services in Dublin city centre and suburbs.
Newspaper reports yesterday suggested that a majority of more than 30 Chinese massage parlours offered sexual services.
The Garda press office said yesterday that "as with all complaints made to An Garda Síochána we will investigate same. We have at our disposal a number of Acts including the recently enacted Criminal Justice (Human Trafficking) Act, 2008 to assist us investigating breaches of criminal law" such as Chinese massage parlours.
Some reports claim that women have been "trafficked" into Ireland, brought in by gangs and forced to offer sexual services for payment.
Ruhama, the organisation that works for and with women involved in prostitution, has a particular interest in trafficking and has frequently expressed concern about potential abuse of women in these situations.
Ruhama had received a call from a member of the public about the issue and informed gardaí.
A number of massage centres were yesterday continuing to offer services, quoting full body massages for €60 an hour.
One massage clinic, when contacted and asked whether anything else was offered, replied "ask the girl when you come in".
In a second parlour in Dublin city centre offering similar massage services, when contacted and asked if there were other services, the woman replied "hand relief only".
However, when contacted by phone afterwards directly by The Irish Timesboth parlours insisted they did not offer any illegal services.
At one parlour, the woman who answered and gave her name as Mary said they offered only massages - "deep tissue massage".
"We don't offer anything illegal. Sometimes somebody asks for something extra, but we don't do this".
When asked about telling potential customers to "ask the girl when you come in", she said there were different types of massage, but "we don't do anything illegal".
Eva, from another massage parlour, near the city centre, insisted "we don't do any extra.
"I offer certified Chinese massage. I have worked in a hospital in China for 10 years. "It is very good deep tissue massage."
When informed that a caller 30 minutes earlier had been offered sexual services, she replied "we don't do that anymore".
When asked about massage parlours continuing to offer sexual services, a Garda spokesman said they could not comment on ongoing operations.
Advertisements for such massage parlours were placed in The Irish Times. A spokesman for the newspaper said that "procedures are in place to vet advertisements of this nature". "An internal inquiry is under way to review the recent advertisements placed."
