Malcolm Noonan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I congratulate him on his appointment. I wish him all the very best for his term ahead. I know he is a reforming Minister, as he has outlined, and this is one area where he can make a significant difference. I welcome the National Women's Council of Ireland and all the other representative organisations that have been campaigning for this for many years.

The rental crisis is symptomatic of a broader housing crisis in Ireland. Nowhere is the rental crisis more evident than in the disgraceful practice of advertising rental properties in return for sex. In recent years and as Senator Harmon outlined, it has become more pervasive than we as policymakers would like to believe. It is not just a Dublin, Cork or Limerick phenomenon; it is a problem throughout the country. We have an opportunity to address this injustice in our rental market, first and foremost, and, importantly, to stop this form of sexual predation. In the longer term, fair, affordable and high-standard rental accommodation with adequate supply will go some way towards ending practices like this exploitation of women. Until then, we must legislate to outlaw and penalise such practice. I commend my colleagues, Senators Harmon, Cosgrove and Stephenson, on this, our first Cross-Party Group legislative proposal. I commend the Labour Party on bringing it forward. As other Senators have said, it is the third attempt to legislate on these matters. I urge the Minister, who is a reforming Minister, not just to support the Bill but to ensure it progresses. Critical to that will be the establishment of Oireachtas committees, which we are all agreed must be done sooner rather than later. I thank my colleague Senator Harmon for bringing forward the Bill.