‘Sex-for-rent’ offences included in justice bill
The Government has approved the publication of a bill that will introduce two criminal offences linked to ‘sex for rent’.
The bill, which covers a range of issues in the criminal-justice system, will also allow counselling records to be released only where a court decides that they contain material relevant to legal proceedings.
The Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025, to be published “shortly”, will also oblige the courts to consider a community-service order (CSO) in lieu of a prison sentence of up to 24 months – an increase from the current threshold of 12 months.
Two new offences
On ‘sex for rent’, the bill introduces two offences:
- Offering accommodation in exchange for sexual activity, and
- Advertising accommodation in exchange for sexual activity.
The Department of Justice says that the provisions cover both rental agreements between landlords and tenants, and ‘rent-a-room’ situations.
In such cases, the offer or advertisement is being criminalised, with no requirement to prove that sexual activity occurred. The proposed penalty for these offences is a fine of up to €5,000.
Victims’ privacy rights
The bill also amends the law on the disclosure of counselling records in sexual-offence trials by requiring that a disclosure hearing takes place in all cases.
Minister Jim O’Callaghan says that this is to ensure adequate judicial oversight, so that the privacy rights of victims and survivors are always considered.
He has also signalled that there may be further changes in this area, saying that the department is currently consulting stakeholders on the development of concrete proposals “to ensure the optimal balance between the rights of complainants and defendants is achieved”.
In a move that the minister says is aimed at tackling prison overcrowding, courts will be obliged to consider a CSO in lieu of a prison sentence of up to 24 months.
The bill also obliges the courts to give reasons where they consider that a CSO should not be imposed in such a case, and increases from 240 to 480 the maximum community-service hours that a judge may order.
Incapacitant spray
The bill will also remove the legal barrier to the use of incapacitant spray by prison officers, which the minister says will be “carefully regulated”.
“When the necessary primary and secondary legislation is in place, the Irish Prison Service intends to introduce a pilot programme, the outcome of which will help inform decisions on wider roll-out,” he states.
Other provisions in the bill include enabling the use of more advanced DNA analysis in missing-persons cases and enabling bail bonds and suspended-sentence bonds to be taken by gardaí and prison officers, respectively.
Minister O’Callaghan intends to introduce other provisions – including remote hearings and electronic-document transmission in criminal proceedings, and a new garda power to require the removal of face coverings in certain circumstances – through committee-stage amendments.