A young woman who moved out of rented accommodation in Waterford City after her landlord told her she could live there free in exchange for sex, was shocked when he turned up at her workplace the following day.
The incident occurred after she responded to an advertisement for a room last October.
She is one of a number of women who have come forward to the Irish Examiner about being offered accommodation at low or reduced rent, with the expectation that sex or bed-sharing would be part of the arrangement.
On Thursday, Justice Minister Helen McEntee told the Dáil there is no legislation currently in place to deal with the practice but the Departments of Justice and Housing are considering advice from Paul Gallagher, the attorney general, on the issue.
The Irish Examiner has also spoken to four international students in their early 20s, who were seeking accommodation in Limerick City when they were contacted by a man who offered them a room.
The women were led to believe they were being offered a private room.
However, it became evident they would actually be sharing their would-be landlord’s bed.
In the Waterford case, the woman was asked for €55 rent per week for a single room, and a €200 deposit.
After moving in, she discovered that the landlord was sub-letting the room to her.
He told her that he had told his landlord his girlfriend was moving in with him. He also did not want her long-term boyfriend to visit the property and initially refused her a key to her room.
She immediately moved out when he told her sex was to be part of the arrangement and that she would not be required to pay rent.
The €55 payment, and the €200 deposit, were to pay the electricity bill, he said.
The man tried several times to contact her by phone that night and the following day, before turning up at her workplace to find her.
She says now: “I personally think if I was at the house alone I could have got raped or something.”
In the Limerick incidents, it is unclear whether all four women were contacted by the same individual, as the messages, seen by this newspaper, came from two different social media accounts.
However, the style of message, pictures of the room, and location are the same. The man in question offers them a room for a short time while they find their feet.
However, after arranging a viewing, he tells them that the room is in fact his, and they would have to share his bed.
In one set of messages seen by the Irish Examiner, the man says the woman can stay for free for 14 days if she will “be with” the man, “like a girlfriend”.
When another woman said she was bringing a friend with her t
