Laura Harmon (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I will share my time with Senator Nessa Cosgrove, who will be seconding the proposal. I thank the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and welcome him to the House. I thank him for his engagement on this issue to date. I know the Minister and the Government are also keen to find a solution to this and have been looking at solutions to this. I want to work collaboratively with the Minister on this. I believe we can work together to get this Bill passed through both Houses. I know this is in the programme for Government and I am certainly open to suggested amendments to the Bill and to working collaboratively and cross-party as well. I will take this opportunity to thank my colleagues in our new cross-party group in the Seanad who have co-sponsored this Bill, namely, Senators Cosgrove, Stephenson and Noonan.

This Bill has been received very positively by many civil society organisations such as the National Women's Council, Threshold, the Union of Students in Ireland, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Rape Crisis Ireland, Women's Aid and the Irish Council for International Students, where I am the outgoing executive director. This is an issue I was working on myself for a number of years prior to becoming a Senator, so I welcome the representatives to the Visitors Gallery here today. I know there are people watching online who are very concerned about this issue and who want to see a resolution put in place.

The term "sex for rent" refers to situations where landlords, property owners or those subletting offer reduced or free accommodation in exchange for sex from prospective or current tenants. This practice preys on individuals who are often in vulnerable situations such as students, low-income earners, migrants, women or those facing homelessness. Certainly, those fleeing domestic violence situations are at risk as well. A power imbalance is often inherent in these arrangements, which leaves tenants susceptible to abuse.

I acknowledge there have been two previous attempts to try to legislate for this issue. There was one from the Social Democrats by Deputy Cian O'Callaghan and, previously, another from Sinn Féin by Deputy Eoin Ó Broin, who has also welcomed my Bill. I hope this will be the third time lucky because we have been waiting years for this. There is a huge degree of support for this issue and a hunger to work collaboratively to get a resolution put in place. The new Minister has an opportunity to send a clear message to predators that this behaviour is not acceptable and that they will face consequences. This is also an opportunity for the Government, as a whole, to take on this issue as part of the housing crisis. I believe there is an opportunity for the Minister to legislate on this issue before the next college term this September. That would be a real win for many people and certainly for students.

I thank and commend the Cork journalist Ann Murphy from the Irish Examiner, who has been consistently covering this issue over a number of years, exposing ads she has seen online and writing about this issue at time when nobody was writing about it. She has won an award for her journalism on this and has been covering it for a number of years. It featured in a "RTÉ Investigates" episode a number of years ago as well. It has been well highlighted in the public domain.

Some ads are on prominent sites such as Daft.ie and can be masked in language like "must be open-minded", "must be up for having fun in the house" and "can negotiate" in terms of rent. It is often not until written messages are exchanged or the person views the room that the nature of what is being offered becomes clear. This can be very scary for people and it is often those whose first language is not English who are most vulnerable to the ambiguous nature that is often a feature of these ads online. Just last week, the journalist herself, Ann Murphy, identified an ad online for a room to rent in Dublin that said negotiation could be based on what applicants could offer. The ads are there and are being run very frequently. Ads have been detected across the country, from Limerick to places like rural Clare, Cork, Waterford, the midlands and Dublin. It is not just urban areas but both urban and rural. Again, I commend Ann Murphy in particular on her journalism on this.

The ads on housing websites often have certain hallmarks, which have been identified by the National Women's Council in its research. They will often not advertise any rental price. Sometimes, they will set a nominal fee. For example, they might offer a room for €1 per month or there will be a declaration that the rental price is negotiable. Often, there will be a failure to identify the exact location of the property and the full address will not be there, again because they are hiding behind this. They will also tend to target a particular type of renter. They might say they are just looking for women or refer to a certain demeanour or look they want in the person. The ads often include a request for a photograph or a physical description of the person they desire to have in the house. Those are some of the features of the ads, which, as I said, can be quite ambiguous.

The Irish Council for International Students has conducted two surveys, in 2023 and 2024. The 2023 survey found that 70% of respondents who had seen these ads had seen them on social media and not on traditional housing sites. The 2024 survey detailed that 81% had seen the ads on social media and 19% had seen them on more traditional housing websites. The ads are often placed on Facebook, Instagram or other platforms or sent through WhatsApp. It is not always on the traditional housing websites.

Of course, by proposing sex for rent in this way, predatory landlords or persons can evade detection. Individuals can also receive these proposals through direct messages, however, which are more targeted and are likely to be more distressing than a generic ad online because it means the person has got the phone number of the individual. It can feel more personal and quite scary to them. It is often not until a person goes to view the room or enquire about the ad that they might get a follow-up text message. The key aspect of this Bill is that it does not just cover traditional websites but also text messages and all forms of electronic and verbal communication. It also covers the subletting of rooms and digs. It will introduce a class A fine of up to €50,000, meaning a significant fine would be introduced as part of the Bill if enacted.Despite the egregious nature of sex for rent, Ireland's current legal framework lacks specific provisions to address it adequately. While certain aspects of sexual exploitation are covered under existing law, there is no specific legislation criminalising the importuning of sex in exchange for accommodation. This legal void allows perpetrators to operate with relative impunity, leaving victims with limited avenues for redress.

Research from the Irish Council for International Students, published last February, exposed the alarming realities international students face in Ireland when struggling to find safe, affordable accommodation of a good standard. The extent of financial strain and overcrowding is deeply concerning. Urgent action is needed to address these issues, in particular the sex-for-rent issue, to ensure Ireland remains a welcoming and supportive destination for international students. This can affect our reputation as a study destination because those affected have families and friends back home. Students will state what happened to them and their friends when they came to Ireland. It is certainly having an impact.

The survey found that 5% of female students who responded said they had either seen or had been directly offered a proposal in relation to sex for rent. Therefore, it is prevalent. The statistic is significant. Commenting on the findings at the time, Ana Valdez, an English language student from Mexico living and studying in Dublin, said, "Decent housing is supposed to be a human right, and although Ireland is a beautiful country with great opportunities, the housing crisis has turned the country into a really bad and impossible experience for many people, resulting in overcrowding, poor mental health, sky-high costs, abuse by landlords and even sexual harassment."

Beyond the statistics, there are many personal accounts that highlight the profound impact of sex-for-rent propositions on individuals. One international student recounted that, "The owner asked after five days if I wanted sex", illustrating the predatory nature of some landlords. Another student shared the following, "One said I could sleep with him and then sent obscene images to me." These testimonies reveal the psychological distress and violation of personal boundaries experienced by the victims. A female undergraduate from Germany said she had seen "numerous ads on accommodation websites, platforms and Facebook groups" advertising sex for rent.

While this issue predominantly affects women, it can affect men too. A Brazilian male wrote, "A guy on Facebook offered a room to me in exchange for sex." A male student from Guatemala reported his experience. He said, "When I went to view a room, the landlord started to speak to me in a sexual tone and mentioned that there were 'other ways' of paying the rent." These are just some of the experiences of respondents to the ICOS survey.

The National Women's Council has been at the forefront of advocating for change in this and emphasising that sex for rent is a form of sexual exploitation. Of course, there can be gender-based violence as well. The council has called upon the Government to take action on this. It is imperative we do so. We need to have a solution, and this Bill I am proposing with the support of our Cross-Party Group is to put a solution in place and work collaboratively.

Ireland's ongoing crisis has exacerbated the prevalence of sex-for-rent offers. With soaring rent prices and a shortage of affordable housing, many individuals find themselves in desperate situations, and this desperation creates an environment where exploitative individuals can take advantage of those in need. There are not enough refuge spaces for those fleeing domestic violence in Ireland. Homelessness figures are rising, as the Minister knows, and rents are going up. There are limited protections for licensee agreements in digs. The cost of living is soaring and food prices are rising. The housing crisis is the backdrop against which the predators are operating. In the absence of penalties, they are allowed to get away with their activity in many instances.

I want to talk a little about students' unions. I was very alarmed recently when I met Gearóid Folan from the Technological University of the Shannon, who is in the Gallery. His union has said this issue is becoming really prevalent for students' unions and they have had to take down many ads in their colleges. When I was president of the USI ten years ago, this was not an issue that was featuring. It has become more prominent. This Bill is the first step in addressing it.