Third opposition bill to criminalise sex-for-rent practices to be introduced in Seanad
The bill proposes a fine of up to €50,000 for advertising sex-for-rent offers.
A third opposition bill aimed at criminalising sex-for-rent practices will be brought before the Seanad on Tuesday, as the government continues efforts to ban such arrangements.
Labour Senator Laura Harmon will introduce the Prohibition of Advertising or Importuning Sex-for-Rent Bill 2025 in the Seanad on Tuesday, marking the third time legislation has been brought forward by opposition parties following an Irish Examiner investigation into sex-for-rent in December 2021.
The bill proposes a fine of up to €50,000 for advertising sex-for-rent offers.
Currently, a number of such offers are published online, including one offering “rent negotiation depending what can be offered” in Dublin.
The latest legislation is being brought forward as discussions continue between the Department of Justice and the Office of the Attorney General on how to tackle the offering of sex-for-rent arrangements to renters.
The criminalisation of people who make sex-for-rent offers has been included in the Programme for Government, more than three years after the government pledged to tackle the issue as a priority in the wake of the investigation.
Online advertisements regularly appear on a number of websites offering reduced or no rent in return for sex. Separately, people responding to accommodation advertisements on social media have received similar offers in private messages from homeowners.
Previous attempts to legislate against the practice include the Ban on Sex-for-Rent Bill introduced by the Social Democrats two years ago, and the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (Sex-for-Rent) Bill 2023, introduced in the Dáil by Sinn Féin last year.
The Social Democrats’ legislation failed to pass pre-legislative scrutiny, while there has been no movement on the Sinn Féin bill.
In her previous role as Executive Director of the Irish Council for International Students, Senator Harmon oversaw the publication of a report which found that 5% of female respondents had either received an offer to rent a room in Ireland in exchange for sex or had seen a room being advertised in exchange for sex.
Last month, the Council, Threshold, and the National Women’s Council met with politicians in Leinster House to push for changes to the rental market – including introducing legislation to outlaw sex-for-rent.
Last year, a report published by the National Women’s Council called on the government to ensure that sex-for-rent proposals are viewed as a sexual offence separate from sex purchase laws to avoid the stigmatisation and low reporting encountered in other jurisdictions where pursuing convictions requires the victim to identify as a ‘prostitute’.
However, sources say it is proving difficult to ensure that any legislative vehicle does not inadvertently criminalise consensual sexual relationships.
The Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, told the that the Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, will “not be hanging around” in relation to the issue, adding: “As a minister, he is pursuing a number of avenues to strengthen the laws.”
