Film depicting story of woman offered sex-for-rent arrangement to be screened in Leinster House

The film will be screened in the AV room of Leinster House on Wednesday. 

A film depicting the story of a woman offered a sex-for-rent arrangement will be screened in Leinster House on Wednesday, as legislation to ban the practice goes through the Oireachtas.

No Time Wasters by Tara O’Callaghan features Love/Hate star Peter Coonan as a prospective landlord who, along with his onscreen wife, offers a sex-for-rent arrangement to a foreign woman.

The film was produced following an Irish Examiner investigation into sex for rent in Ireland in December 2021.

It premiered at the Dublin Film Festival last year and is shortlisted in the short film category of this year’s Irish Film and Television Awards.

Ms O’Callaghan says: “Ultimately, No Time Wasters aims to amplify the voices of the most marginalised in our society. It’s a testament to the quiet resilience of people who don’t have a safety net and the reality of survival when the system isn’t built to catch you.” 

She said she drew from interviews she had with women offered sex-for-rent arrangements in her research.

The screening of the film in the AV room of Leinster House on Wednesday evening is being hosted by Labour senator Laura Harmon. 

Representatives from a group calling itself a “coalition of civil society organisations advocating for the prohibition of ‘sex-for-rent’ exploitation” will address senators and TDs at Wednesday’s screening. 

The group comprises of Akidwa, Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn, the Irish Council for International Students, the National Women’s Council, Rape Crisis Ireland, and Threshold.

The group made a submission to the Oireachtas Justice Committee after the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 was referred to it from the Dáil in recent weeks.

Under that legislation, there will be two offences covering sex for rent — the offering of accommodation in exchange for sexual activity, and the advertising of accommodation in exchange for sexual activity.

A penalty of up to €5,000 will be introduced through the legislation.