Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 21 June 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality

Ban on Sex for Rent Bill 2022: Discussion

Photo of Cian O'CallaghanCian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for facilitating the scrutiny of the Bill at this stage. I very much welcome that it is taking place. I thank the organisations and individuals taking part. I very much welcome any constructive suggestion as to how the Bill can be improved. I am very open to amendments that members of the committee or other Members of the Oireachtas may have to strengthen it on Committee Stage. It has two specific intentions, the first being to introduce a specific criminal offence for anyone who demands sex in lieu of rent or for reduced rent and the second being to introduce a specific offence for advertising sex in lieu of rent, for individuals placing an advertisement, a platform or publication or anyone involved in facilitating it.

To give the background to why I introduced the Bill, there have been many reports, particularly in the Irish Examinerby Ann Murphy, who has done very good work on this, and also RTÉ's "Prime Time" on the practice of putting renters under pressure to offer sex for a reduced rent or making available of accommodation in this regard. There have been reports over a number of years. More recently, and very disturbingly, we have heard about some people trying to exploit people fleeing war in Ukraine. We can all agree this is an abhorrent practice. We must ask whether legislation is necessary. In the Dáil the Minister of State for Justice confirmed that no specific criminal offence exists for the practice, and the Garda confirmed for the housing committee that the PULSE system does not specifically record sex-for-rent complaints as a specific category. That is not surprising given that it is not a specific criminal offence. The point was made on Second Stage in the Dáil by nearly all contributors that while this Bill would be welcome, no one is suggesting it would sort out all the problems and that there are not wider problems related to housing, renting and power imbalances. It would be helpful all the same. The potential value of the Bill is that it would act as a deterrent. It would also assist renters and organisations that support renters in bringing forward complaints. At present, any complaints would have to be made to fit the criteria of other legislation. The Bill, if passed and strengthened, would be successful if it led to a reduction in the practice of putting pressure on renters.

We do not have full data on the extent of the problem. We lack research in Ireland. There is some evidence that migrants, in particular those with less access to support networks, have been targeted. This has been seen from certain advertisements placed on platforms mostly used by migrants. More extensive research has been done in the UK by the housing charity Shelter. It suggests that 59,000 women in the UK were propositioned for sex in lieu of rent in a period of a year and a half between March 2020 and September 2021. There is no equivalent quantitative research in Ireland at this point.

On Second Stage of the Bill in the Dáil, the Minister of State raised a number of issues constructively that the Government felt needed to be addressed to tighten the wording, make the wording more precise and ensure the terms in the Bill are properly defined. Concerns were also raised over the proportionality of the fines suggested in the Bill. I welcome that input and am very much committed to working with members of the committee to address these concerns and improve and strengthen the Bill. I very much look forward to hearing people's comments.