'A rushed law is a bad law': Fears over scrutiny of sex-for-rent legislation

(Left to right) Brian Hearne of the Irish Council for International Students, Donna Von Allemann of Rape Crisis Ireland, Ivana Bacik TD, Senator Laura Harmon and Chris Clifford president of the Union of Students in Ireland outside Leinster House in April ahead of the Seanad debate on the bill to ban sex-for-rent arrangements. Mr Hearne said 'We find it very concerning that the committee did not discuss the sex-for-rent provision of the Bill.' File photo: Sasko Lazarov/Rollingnews.ie

Scrutiny of legislation which will outlaw sex for rent has been slammed for failing to hear from any witnesses, experts or discussing the practice.

The General Scheme of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous) Bill 2025 was the subject of pre-legislative scrutiny by the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.

As well as sex for rent, the bill aims to restrict access to counselling notes in sexual offences trials, and permit gardaí to order the removal of face coverings at protests.

A report will now be drawn up for the Government ahead of the law being drafted. It is expected before the Oireachtas by the end of the year.

Expert witnesses at the committee hearing included a rape survivor, the Irish Penal Reform Trust and One in Four, as well as legal representatives. Issues including counselling notes and planned changes to legal issues were dealt with during the hearing. 

However, the lack of witnesses to discuss the legislation’s move to tackle sex-for-rent offers has been criticised, while there was also criticism of the bill itself as being too big to discuss in one sitting of the committee.

The lack of witnesses to discuss the legislation’s move to tackle sex-for-rent offers has been criticised, while there was also criticism of the bill itself as being too big to discuss in one sitting of the committee. File picture

Brian Hearne, policy and communications manager at the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS), said: "We find it very concerning that the committee did not discuss the sex-for-rent provision of the Bill. We are also disappointed that ICOS was not invited to appear before the committee to offer our insights on this issue. 

"Our most recent report showed that 5% of female international students reported either being offered accommodation in exchange for sex, or seeing such rooms advertised in Ireland.” 

The National Women’s Council (NWC), which has also campaigned for a law to ban sex-for-rent practices, is also concerned that there was no expert at the committee to discuss the proposal.

Ivanna Youtchak, the council’s violence against women co-ordinator, said: “For this new legislation to work as intended, it is crucial that issues concerning the application of the Criminal Justice (Sexual Offences) Act 2017, in particular in relation to section 45 are addressed. 

"NWC is concerned about challenges in enforcement, very low prosecution numbers for public sexual misconduct offences and underreporting. None of these issues have been raised by any member of the committee during the pre-legislative scrutiny and there was no expert to discuss these.” 

Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward is a member of the committee and warned that a “rushed law is a bad law”.

He said: 

I could only talk about two areas of the legislation. It was really really limited. There were parts of the bill that weren’t discussed at all. 

"To do proper pre-legislative scrutiny, each one of the parts of the miscellaneous bill should have been discussed.” He said the committee’s remit is now packed because it combines justice with home affairs and migration.

During the meeting, committee chairman Matt Carthy acknowledged the difficulties, saying: “As has been noted by a number of members the remit of this legislation is quite extensive. 

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"It is proving difficult for this committee to deal with so many disparate measures in one item of justice legislation. I apologise to all of those who have a sincere interest in this legislation or in particular aspects of it.” 

In a recent blog post, Professor Tom O’Malley highlighted that a long Miscellaneous Provisions Bill “making numerous legal changes, including amendments to several existing statutes, and covering many different areas of law, is unlikely to get any meaningful parliamentary scrutiny”. 

He referenced the General Scheme of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 which he said had 51 sections, running over 75 pages.