Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I will give the Minister of State a copy of the article. That is no problem. His report was on the number of holiday homes in local electoral areas in Gaeltacht areas. It is absolutely scary. In Baile an Sceilg, 55% of homes are holiday homes. He goes all the way through every region. In Ros Goill, the figure is 58%. These homes are not available to the local community. They may be available to the likes of the physiotherapist mentioned earlier for seven or eight months of the year but they are then turfed out because the property is more valuable as a holiday home. Some are just sitting there. They are of absolutely no benefit to the community from one end of the year to the other. Some just sit there and are only used for two or three weeks of the year. That is the frustrating thing. Members of communities cannot get housing built for themselves and they see these houses just sitting there virtually empty.

They are not derelict. They are holiday homes. The State has a second home property tax, but that is not a discouragement. Those are the figures, and I will give them to the Minister of State. The other competing factor is that in many cases these are slightly richer people coming from the east coast into Gaeltacht areas and driving prices up. When a house comes up for sale in the locality, people are not just competing against Billy or Johnny next door, they are competing against everybody from outside. If I am looking at some of the feeds on Facebook and so on something pops up and it says, "Look at this gorgeous little gem". People are competing against people in America who are encouraged to buy holiday homes in a Gaeltacht area. There are competing demands with tourism. However, frustration builds up if people cannot live in 55% of homes in an area that are linked by water, sewerage and roads. That is part of the frustration we saw yesterday with the group outside. Part of the problem is the one Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich was having in Dingle at the same time. It was the 1970s when Cumann Chearta Sibhialta na Gaeltachta took to the streets to demand rights. They got some of them but they were the same questions then. There has been an explosion in the building of holiday homes since. A lot of the building of holiday homes has stopped, but people are buying family homes. It is causing its own disruption. Part of planning legislation is about how to protect against people buying. These homes have to be functional and lived in for as much of the year as possible so they play a role. The secondary role is that a local shop, pub or cafe will close if 50% of the population disappears for nine months of the year. It is not sustainable and they might not reopen. The tourism product then disappears as well. That point is not directly related to any of my amendments but it is directly related to what Deputy O'Callaghan said about short-term lets because some of these are also short-terms lets.