Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-18 ============================================================ Laura Harmon (LAB), Industrial and Commercial Panel I thank the House for facilitating me to speak earlier. I welcome the Minister to the House, and commend him on taking action on so many important areas. The first Bill I introduced to the Houses of the Oireachtas through the Seanad was on the issue of sex for rent, which is a terrible practice that needs to be outlawed. It is extremely welcome, therefore, that this aspect is being included in this legislation. We will be seeking to make some amendments on Committee Stage in relation to the Bill as a whole as well as to the sex for rent provision. I hope to engage with the Minister on those amendments, especially in ensuring there is access to legal assistance and specialist supports for victims of this practice, including clear referral pathways and trauma-informed services. I agree with the coalition campaigning on this issue of sex for rent and advocating for it to be included as a form of violence within Cuan’s domestic, sexual and gender-based violence strategy, and for dedicated training for An Garda Síochána to be provided in relation to this aspect. Greater protections for renters are also needed. I know this is a matter for the Minister for housing as well. In particular, there is a need for protection in precarious rental situations, including digs accommodation. We need to ensure that there is effective enforcement in terms of banning these ads online. I think this should be under the remit of the online safety commissioner. Those are a number of areas we will be looking at in terms of amendments. The Minister took action on this issue of sex for rent swiftly during his term. When it comes to this issue of sex for rent, we have been waiting too long. This will send a clear message to perpetrators that this is not acceptable and it needs to be outlawed. We look forward to further debate on this provision on Committee Stage. I also welcome the area of disregard in the Bill. For many decades, the State criminalised gay men because of who they were and who they loved. In Pride Month, it is fitting that we are debating this legislation. I mention the work of my colleague, Deputy Ged Nash, who has made sure that this matter has stayed on the agenda over many years. Those men who were wrongly criminalised should get justice. The Labour Party is proud to see this happening after many years of campaigning. It is a landmark moment for this country’s treatment of LGBTQI+ people. We look forward to further debate on Committee Stage. It goes without saying, but people across this House are in agreement in relation to the concerning issue of counselling notes being used during trials. We all agree as a starting point that the use of counselling notes in trials is a problem. We do not want to see counselling notes used in trials in this way. The Minister’s amendments have made some progress. The National Women’s Council of Ireland, NWCI, has said that the measures in this Bill are a step that will ensure greater scrutiny of the disclosure of counselling records, giving victims greater protection, but, in our view, they do not go far enough. Again, therefore, we will be seeking to have further debate on this provision on Committee Stage in the Seanad and will be bringing forward further amendments. The right to a fair trial is, of course, something that needs to be protected. There are deep concerns in this area. We must always put the well-being of the victims at the centre of this and that needs to be protected. We look forward to further debate on this. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-18/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:05+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-18