Sex being sought for rent

Some landlords in Cork have asked their tenants for sex as a way of paying for their rent, the Cork Independent has learned.

It came to light at a national level yesterday as Ruth Coppinger TD spoke in the Dáil about a screenshot of texts she was sent where a landlord had propositioned a tenant looking for sexual favours.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy replied to Deputy Coppinger describing it as “disgusting” and said it was a horrible thing for someone to go through.

Cllr Fiona Ryan (Solidarity) told the Cork Independent: “I’ve heard about it in Cork too. This is certainly happening here. They are idiots thinking they can get away with it, it’s just so arrogant.

“It’s exposing one of the real consequences of the housing crisis in Cork and shows how some landlords are exploiting the situation.”

The northside councillor said she was looking for people to come forward if it has happened to them. She said that she will talk to them and go through their rights as a tenant as well as assist them in informing An Garda Síochána about it.

Cllr Ryan said any conversation she has with people who do come forward will be kept in the strictest confidence but at the same time, she said that if people wanted to come forward and speak about it publically, she would help them do that too.

Minister Murphy is to talk to the Justice Minister, Charlie Flanagan, about what could possibly be done to tackle issues like this.