Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in. I was following the discussion and I want to pick up on some of the points made by Deputy Cannon earlier in regard to what “short-term” can represent in the different areas. The term, “short-term” represents very different things in different places and, for example, in a big city it can represent displacement of what would otherwise be long-term accommodation, whereas in rural and more isolated areas or in less traditional tourism hot spots, it can represent the only opportunity for tourists to come and stay and spend money in the locality. I come from one of the latter areas and short-term rentals and Airbnb in recent years have represented a new opportunity for many people and businesses in my locality. This exercise is very much about trying to strike a balance and it is important that everybody is cognisant of the fact that one size does not fit all when it comes to this operation.

I want to ask a couple of questions. In regard to properties that are available as short-term lets within the curtilage of a rural one-off property, for example, where someone has a half-acre site with a house on it and may have converted the garage into a two-bed short-term stay that is currently up on Airbnb, do we know how many of those exist around the country?