Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Yes. However, this Bill refers to measures to regulate short-term lets, which directly impact on Gaeltacht communities. I gave an example of an Irish-language speaking physiotherapist who sees hundreds of short-term lets in the An Spidéal area while living out of a van and working in the local HSE clinic.

An Spidéal is not a rent pressure zone. This Bill mentions regulation of short-term lets only in rent pressure zones. Most, if not all, of the Gaeltacht areas are not in rent pressure zones and will be exempt from any regulation the Minister of State says he is going to do with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media on short-term lets. The Minister of State may not be aware of what is being proposed in the Bill but it simply does not answer the points I was making about the detrimental impact in Gaeltacht areas outside of rent pressure zones. This Bill does not propose to do anything about them. When there is a need for regulation in these areas and Gaeltacht areas are impacted, why are they being exempted? Given that part of it does not deal with this, what is the Minister of State proposing?