Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, Deputy Cian O'Callaghan, and his team, Pádraig, Micheal and Jack, for developing this important Bill. Sex for rent is abhorrent. It reveals the depraved depths of the housing crisis, whereby grossly exploitative landlords expect sexual favours in return for putting roofs over people's heads. Abusers see an opportunity to take advantage of women who desperately need accommodation. It takes a particularly revolting and immoral person even to consider sex for rent, not to mention actually advertising their sleaze. Thanks to the investigative work of Ann Murphy and the Irish Examiner, we are aware of the latest manifestation of this issue, but we also know that the problem is more widespread. As legislators, we are compelled to act.

This Bill is a focused response to these incidents to make requiring sex for accommodation, or facilitating sex as a condition for accommodation, crimes. This is simple legislation, its rationale is incredibly clear and it has strong political and public support. No one is naive enough to think that it will immediately stop the malpractice. It is, however, an explicit reaction that will provide the Garda and other State bodies with a means of countering this appalling trend and holding its perpetrators to account. The creation of a specific offence is a recognition of that offence and what it represents. It demonstrates society's revulsion. This Bill is a concrete action the Social Democrats can take as an Opposition party.

I welcome the Government's support for the Bill, but this needs to prompt reforms in the sector, addressing issues that can leave people open to exploitation and harassment. Renters have to hand over a considerable amount of personal information to landlords or agents, which leaves them vulnerable to unwanted attention and abuse. Sex for rent and forms of harassment and abuse should also be made issues on which the RTB can act. We also need stronger safeguards to ensure that individuals convicted of sexual, abusive or coercive crimes are not permitted to have residential power over others. The implications of this Bill are considerable. I urge the Ministers for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Justice to develop a more comprehensive response to fully eliminate this disgusting issue.

We must also face up to the realities that facilitate sex for rent. It is symptomatic of the housing crisis. Skyrocketing costs and shortages of housing are forcing more people into accepting substandard and miserable accommodation.

Photos regularly circulate on social media of tiny rooms for shocking prices. Tenants in public and private accommodation have to live with mould-covered walls. There are cases of migrants being crammed into houses. Whole cohorts of renters are being exploited in the Irish housing system by landlords and companies more interested in profit than in providing proper accommodation.

Sex for rent is by far the most disgusting articulation of this exploitation but there are many other practices that also prey on vulnerabilities. Young people, disabled people, migrants, international students and people on fixed incomes are all made vulnerable by government policy. They are left susceptible to those who want to exploit them for their own gain. Regulation in the sector is vastly inadequate for the scale of issues involved. The system is rigged in favour of big landlords and vulture funds. Prosecutions and enforcement in the area do not reflect the realities of renting in Ireland today. For example, renters should not be discriminated against because they are getting certain payments, such as housing assistance payment, but we are all aware of situations where landlords do not accept tenants on it. Of course they give another reason on paper but we all know the reality. While this is wrong, it is a minor offence compared to some of the other malpractices in the sector. If this infraction cannot be policed then what hope is there for addressing the other issues?

This legislation will only be effective if there is the desire and resources to see it implemented. It is a further indication that the State needs to have a far more active role in housing. The continuing opposition to the regulation of housing, freezing rents, prioritising families, tackling dereliction and building public housing is ideological. There is a serious and disastrous imbalance between the role of the market and the role of the State. This needs to be addressed. The Ban on Sex for Rent Bill deals with a specific issue. Without addressing the larger underlying factors of a housing shortage and rapidly-rising rents the conditions for these abuses will remain.

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