Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With regard to subsection (2), within the RPZs a person would have to apply for planning permission to continue to let a property on a short-term basis. In real terms, however, what decision making autonomy will the local authorities have? Does the Minister see it, effectively, as a mechanism for a blanket refusal, with the Department saying it does not want the authority to grant any of these permissions? That is the first question. The reason I ask it is that within the RPZs in my area of Fingal, there are a number of rural villages where houses are let on a short-term basis for tourism. Even within that RPZ, there are no pressures in those villages for rent yet they are important for tourism.

The Minister continually mentions Dublin. Dublin is more than Dublin city, as he knows. It is important to peripheral areas such as Fingal that people exiting Dublin Airport turn left as opposed to always going into the city for city breaks. I have received specific representations from people concerned about the application of this provision within an RPZ area where there is no pressure as such on rental supply. These small operations bring business to rural constituencies in Dublin. In this regard, does Fingal County Council as the local authority have the autonomy to grant a licence for the short-term letting?

The Minister mentioned that these regulations will come into effect from 1 July. I understand the need for an appropriate lead-in period to allow people to get their houses in order. I accept that we need to regulate short-term letting to ensure properties come back into stock but there are issues with the regulations that we need to do further work on. Is there sufficient time for people to regularise their situations? For example, in the case of an application made now for permission for a second property let the minimum processing time is eight weeks. If this law comes into effect from 1 July will this permission be in breach of it? In other words, having not had sufficient lead-in time in terms of the application, will the person be operating illegally? If this Bill is passed by the Dáil and Seanad in the next couple of weeks and is signed into law by the President on, say, 1 May, is there sufficient time for people to ensure they are not operating illegally through no fault of their own?