05-05-2025
Legislation outlawing sex-for-rent included in bill to be examined by Cabinet today
A new bill seeking to outlaw sex-for-rent and tackling the universal use of counselling notes in sexual assault trials is being brought to the Cabinet for approval on Tuesday.
The General Scheme of Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 is being brought by the Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan.
The bill has a number of different strands, and includes a provision for a new definition of 'DNA profile', which is expected to enable the use of more powerful identification techniques in cases involving missing and unidentified remains.
Part 12 of the bill will address sex for rent and comes over three years after an investigation by the Irish Examiner led to demands for government action to outlaw the practice. Three bills have been introduced since by opposition parties, including one from Labour last month.
Under the bill being brought to Cabinet today, it will be an offence to offer accommodation in exchange for sex, and to advertise accommodation in exchange for sex. A fine of up to €5,000 will be the penalty for those convicted.
The legislation will cover rental arrangements between landlords and tenants, as well as 'rent-a-room' situations. Under the legislation, there will be no requirement to prove that sexual activity took place.
Minister O'Callaghan said: 'I want to be clear that any attempt by accommodation providers to exploit their position and prey on vulnerable individuals through these arrangements is completely unacceptable. It is an appalling abuse of power, and it will not be tolerated."
Counselling notes
Meanwhile, the bill provides for a disclosure hearing to determine if counselling notes in sexual offence cases are relevant to the trial when an accused person seeks access to them.
The legislation proposes that judges will be told to only allow the release of such records in cases where there would be a 'real risk' of an unfair trial without them.
Last week, People Before Profit TD Ruth Coppinger brought a bill forward seeking to outlaw counselling notes being deployed by defendants in trials.
In March, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Catherine Pierse, welcomed a Supreme Court ruling which, she said, rejected 'the notion that disclosure of counselling notes in sexual offence cases is required on the basis that the material is remotely or potentially relevant'.
If the legislation is approved by the Cabinet, it will also broaden the definition of DNA in a bid to aid Forensic Science Ireland in the generation of DNA profiles particularly in cases where there are degraded samples from unidentified remains. It will follow a precedent set by the Institutional Burials Act 2022.
