Sex for rent offences to be dealt with through human trafficking legislation 

A department spokesman said that Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has 'committed to addressing this abhorrent and exploitative behaviour by making the offering of advertising of accommodation for sex in lieu of rent a criminal offence'. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Government legislation to tackle sex for rent offers in the private rental sector will be brought forward as an amendment to human trafficking legislation when it goes through the Seanad in the coming months.

According to the Department of Justice, work is continuing with the Office of the Attorney General to draft an amendment to the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023. The bill is currently going through the Dáil and is set to begin its progress through the Seanad in the second week of May.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said it is hoped the amendment will be “be finalised in time to be taken forward in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023 once it reaches Committee stage in the Seanad; subject to Government approval.”

“This is a complex issue to legislate for given the risk of unintentionally criminalising consensual relationships and as such, is currently subject to careful consideration from a legal perspective,” he said.

The spokesman said that Minister McEntee has “committed to addressing this abhorrent and exploitative behaviour by making the offering of advertising of accommodation for sex in lieu of rent a criminal offence”.

The effort to legislate against sex-for-rent offers comes over two years after an investigation into the issue by the Irish Examiner, and follows a failed attempt by the Social Democrats to introduce the Ban on Sex for Rent Bill 2022.

That legislation was rejected by the Justice Oireachtas Committee after pre-legislative scrutiny.

Last month, Sinn Féin brought forward an amendment to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to make it an offence for any landlord to seek sex in lieu of rent or to advertise same.

Ads offering sex-for-rent propositions continue to appear on online advertising platforms. One is currently offering “FWB” (friends with benefits) arrangements for a property near Mullingar, for females only.

Until late last year, Government had pledged to address the area of sex for rent demands under prostitution legislation.

However, that was reliant on the outcome of a review of part 4 of the Sexual Offences Act 2017, which criminalises payment for sexual activity with a prostitute or a trafficked person. That review has not yet been completed.

Last November, a survey published by the Irish Council for International Students of 819 international students found that one in 20 had either been offered a sex-for-rent proposal, or had seen an advertisement for such an arrangement.

One case highlighted by the Irish Examiner involved accommodation in Clare being offered to a “slim Ukrainian” woman, with an expectation of sex “after a while”.

The landlord demanded a photo from a prospective tenant and refused to reveal the location of the property or send photos of it if a photo was not sent to him first.