An Garda Síochána and third level institutions are where people are most likely to be asked to take part in sexual acts to access public services, a new report has found.
The study, Sexual Corruption in Ireland and Northern Ireland, from Dublin City University’s Anti-corruption Research Centre (ARC) has found that up to 11 per cent of adults have been asked for sexual acts by public servants, or know someone who has been.
Rates in the Republic were found to be highest during interactions with the Garda (6.2 per cent of respondents said they or someone they knew had been asked for sexual acts); schools and universities (5.2 per cent) and immigration, passport and visa services (3.9 per cent).
“This doesn’t mean the police in Ireland have a huge problem, or that universities in Ireland have a huge problem, but it does suggest they have a problem,” said Robert Gilanders, professor of economics at DCU, codirector of ARC and co-author of the report.
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The findings “align” with those in other countries, he said, noting documented cases of so-called “sex for grades” in some UK and West African universities, and findings of sexual corruption in higher education and the judiciary in Scandinavia and South Africa.
In all cases, women and people from minority backgrounds were more vulnerable.
The survey’s findings “point to a significant problem that needs to be taken seriously,” said Gilanders. “The discretionary power of police officers and university professionals, the opacity with which a lot of their decisions are made ... the stakes are very high.”
The research draws on online surveys by Amárach Research conducted in November 2025 with 1,000 adults representative of the general population in the Republic, and 1,000 similarly selected adults in Northern Ireland.
Respondents were asked whether, in a range of public service contexts, a public official had implied, either openly or suggestively, to them or to someone they knew that a Government service or benefit would be granted in exchange for sexual favours.
The contexts included paying taxes; planning and development regulation; local government; accessing healthcare; schools or universities; dealing with the police, and immigration, passport and visa services.
In Northern Ireland, the highest reported prevalence was in schools and universities (4.3 per cent); dealing with the police (2.6 per cent) and local Government (2.3 per cent).
“Education and policing therefore emerge as particularly important areas of concern in both jurisdictions,” the report noted.
John Devitt, chief executive of Transparency International Ireland (TII), said the issue of sexual corruption had been on the independent organisation’s “radar for a long time”.
“While we haven’t received too many reports of this kind of abuse we are aware ... of cases.” It was an “international phenomenon” that police forces were “vulnerable to this type of abuse,” he said.
Devitt cited the case of retired Gda William Ryan (then 41) who was convicted in July 2024 and sentenced to six years for the sexual assault and false imprisonment of a woman at Aughrim Garda Station in 2020.
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Migrant and asylum-seeking women were especially vulnerable, he said. TII was aware of women in IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Service) centres who had been “solicited for sex” and were “fearful of speaking up” due to their immigration status.
Devitt said An Garda Síochána has had a policy on the abuse since 2021.
The document, Professional Boundaries and Abuse of Power for Sexual Gain, said: “Garda personnel who attempt to abuse their power for sexual gain or attempt to establish a relationship beyond a professional capacity, risk breaching the trust and confidence of the public and negatively impact on the reputation and integrity of An Garda Síochána.”
The DCU report called for sexual corruption to be named as a crime and as a distinct abuse of public power, and for public bodies to ensure clear policies against corruption and abuse of power.
An Garda Síochána has been contacted for comment.
