Advertising Of “Sex In Lieu Of Rent”, To Become Criminal Offence.

Introduce two specific criminal offences around ‘Sex for Rent’.
Amend legislation on disclosure of counselling records in sexual assault trials.

The Minister for Justice, Mr Jim O’Callaghan TD, today secured Government approval for the drafting of legislation which responds to a range of pressing challenges for the criminal justice system, one of which we already published HERE

The proposed legislation also includes measures to criminalise the exploitative practice of seeking sex in lieu of rent and to ensure that counselling records are only released where the Court decides that they contain material relevant to legal proceedings.

The General Scheme of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 will now be referred to the Justice Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny and, when its report is received, work on finalising the Bill will be prioritised.

Separately, it is proposed to introduce two specific criminal offences around ‘sex for rent’ (offering accommodation in exchange for sex) and the advertising of accommodation in exchange for sex.

The provisions encompass both rental agreements between landlords and tenants, and ‘rent-a-room’ situations. It is the offer or advertisement that is being criminalised – there is no requirement to prove that sexual activity occurred. The proposed penalty for these offences is a Class A fine of up to €5,000.

Another measure in the proposed legislation that will strengthen laws in the Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence area concerns new Bail restrictions on those accused of coercive control or imposing forced marriage.
Under the Bill, the two offences would be added to the schedule of the Bail Act 1997. This means that, under the new terms of an amended Bail Act, a court could refuse an application for bail made by a person charged with coercive control or forced marriage, if it considers it necessary to prevent that person committing a serious offence.