The Seanad has heard that the Sex for Rent Bill is a crucial step in addressing a deeply troubling issue that has emerged in Irish society – the soliciting or importuning of sexual services for reduced rent or in lieu of rent.
Wednesday’s debate in the Seanad heard that vulnerable tenants were being exploited by some unscrupulous landlords who are demanding sexual favours in lieu of rent.
The Prohibition of Advertising or Importuning Sex for Rent Bill 2025 would make it an offence to solicit or importune sexual services in consideration of a reduced rent or in lieu of rent for the letting of a tenancy or other residential accommodation, and to provide for related matters.
This practice of asking for sex in lieu of rent has seen an “alarming surge”, according to the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS).
A report launched in February by the ICOS claims that one in 20 students are being exposed to proposals of rent-free accommodation in exchange for sex, while one in seven are being offered accommodation where they are expected to sleep in the same bed as a stranger. A total of 819 international students from 73 countries took part in the survey.
Online adverts almost never make any mention of sexual requests, but when young women respond, the intentions of the advertiser quickly become clear.
The rise in such ads have made media headlines in recent months. In March, Sky News reported that international students were particularly affected.
Students told Sky that they had responded to adverts in private Facebook groups after searching for accommodation. One female Brazilian student told Sky that she responded to a listing on Facebook for a place to stay in Dublin city centre in 2022, when she was completing a master’s degree.
“When I asked him for a price he said it wouldn’t be necessary to pay if I slept in his bedroom a few times a week,” she said. Another Brazilian student told the outlet that a landlord told her that she could stay in his bed, but that “sometimes he would be there.”
A technical group of Labour, Social Democrats and Green Party senators are behind the Private Members Bill – with the opposition group calling on the Government to support the Bill. They say they want to see it introduced by this September, to coincide with new students seeking places to live. Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan has said the government is “seeking to make offering sex for rent a specific criminal offence” and that work is ongoing between his department and the attorney general “on a suitable provision”.
Technological University Shannon students’ union said this week that close to 10 such incidents had come on its radar in the current academic year.
The Bill, now at second stage, if passed, could see fines of up to €50,000 imposed on anyone advertising a room or home in return for sexual favours instead of rent.
Labour senator Laura Harmon, the senator behind the Bill and leader of the Seanad technical group, said the Bill would send a clear message to predators that they will “face the law.”
The former president of the Union of Students in Ireland said that as president a decade ago, the issue was “not featuring, was not something that we were hearing about” – but that anecdotal evidence had increasingly emerged that students were being targeted.
“But it’s extremely prominent now, to the point where students’ unions are actually having to warn students at inductions about the issue because it is so prevalent,” she said.
“Research from the Irish Council for International Students shows that 5% of women who responded to their survey in 2024 and a previous survey in 2023 said they had encountered or been offered directly these ads in relation to sex for rent.”
She said she was open to amendments on the Bill, which has been welcomed by the Union of Students in Ireland, Women’s Aid, and the Rape Crisis Network among others.
“Often the ads will say you must be up for having fun in the house, must be willing to negotiate, can pay in other ways, and it’s often then the next stage when they start messaging that they get these creepy messages through electronic means, so this bill would criminalise that,” Senator Harmon said.
“There is no legislation that is outlawing ads in relation to sex for rent, so this bill would make it a criminal offence to advertise for the letting of rooms for tenancies in exchange for sex or in exchange for reduced rent.
“We want to criminalise that and this bill would send a clear message to predators that they will face the law if they do this,” she added.
Independent Senator Sharon Keogan was among those who voiced support for the Bill, which was presented to Seanad Éireann on April 1 and discussed today.
“The housing crisis in Ireland has reached unprecedented levels. We are all acutely aware of the struggles faced by our citizens in securing affordable and safe housing,” Senator Keogan said.
She said that the “failure of successive Governments” to address the “crisis” had left many people, particularly young people, in precarious living situations.
“It is in this context of desperation and vulnerability that some landlords have resorted to the abhorrent practice of soliciting sex for rent. This Bill, introduced by my colleagues, seeks to criminalise such predatory behaviour. It is a necessary measure to protect those who are most at risk of exploitation.”
Senator Keogan said that while she supported the Bill “wholeheartedly,” she felt the enforcement should lie solely in the hands of An Garda Síochána.
“It is crucial that we do not dilute [the Gardaí’s role] by outsourcing too many enforcement opportunities to the RTB,” she added. “The RTB plays a vital role in regulating the rental sector and resolving disputes between landlords and tenants. While it can provide valuable support in terms of information and guidance, the primary responsibility for enforcing this legislation must rest with the Gardaí. This ensures that offences are treated with the seriousness they deserve and that perpetrators are held accountable to the full weight of the law.
She also said that the housing crisis was a symptom of broader, systemic failings, and that solutions had to address the root cause of the crisis, rather than “relying on piecemeal measures.”
“This Bill is necessary,” she said, citing the collapse of law and order.
“It is unacceptable that so many predatory landlords are, at this moment, advertising sex for rent arrangements. But they do so because the absence of strong law enforcement has created a culture of impunity for them and other predators. Therefore, I hope this Bill will also urge our Government to increase their investment in our police force and to ramp up the recruitment of Garda.”