Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have a few questions. I know the Minister said it had to be on a legal basis regarding why we had not rolled this out nationally. I can kind of accept it but the regulation we are introducing is quite good and I do not see why we cannot bring it in nationwide. What happens if an area that was an RPZ is no longer one, which is a possibility?

I am sure the Minister has had engagement with the short-term letting platforms, which have been part of this process. Regulation of short-term letting platforms is an issue about which I have spoken previously. While the Minister has told me that it is not within his remit but is within the remit of another Minister, it is a critical piece that is required. Regulation of short-term letting platforms could make things a lot easier and make what the Minister is introducing a lot simpler for the local authorities. From my engagement with the Minister today, it looks like he will be providing a shared service for all the local authorities, although I could be wrong. This shared service will probably be the one that collates all the data that can feed information to local authorities to identify those properties breaching the regulation. If we had regulation of short-term letting platforms today, that information would automatically be provided by those platforms to each local authority so that it could act on it. As a person involved in tourism and from a customer perspective, I can say that this industry needs to be regulated. There is no regulation to protect a tourist coming to Ireland today who is staying in a place booked through a short-term letting platform. Not alone would regulation assist each local authority, it would also provide a better experience for the visitor to Ireland. This is why I think the regulation of short-term letting platforms is critical for the success of this legislation. The Minister has told us that it is not within his remit, which I understand, but I ask him to impress on the relevant Minister the importance of regulating short-term letting platforms from the tourism perspective and in respect of providing valid and accurate information to each local authority to allow it to act under the regulation the Minister is introducing.