Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and Minister of State for attending. My question is for the Minister. How aware is she of the campaign from the Irish Self-Catering Federation on a request for consultation and discussion on Fáilte Ireland's registration of short-term lets. Its representatives visited Dublin last week and I thought they put their case to us pretty well. The federation is absolutely in favour of a register for short-term lets. We are all acutely aware of the shortage of long-term rental properties and housing. The federation feels very much that there is a disparity between the impact it will have on regional areas and more peripheral tourism areas. I can speak about how it would impact west Cork where there are some very vibrant tourism businesses and very vibrant short-term lets. We hear anecdotally that a lot of accommodation in Kinsale is taken up with short-term lets and Airbnb, which removes the availability of properties for the rental market. This is an issue we need to tackle. At the same time, and in the same rent pressure zone, there are people with coastal cottages in Barryroe, which is a good distance from Kinsale. Of course they will be asked to register, but there will be an unfair impact.

I have seen situations where people may have built or received planning permission for a granny flat for their elderly loved ones. After their elderly loved ones passed on these people may have converted the granny flat into a short-term let to provide very important income. In order to register a short-term let, people will have to apply for planning permission. What I have seen so far in these instances is that because local authorities seem to resist planning permission for this type of unit and there do not seem to be clear guidelines, applications are being turned down.

Local authority planners seem to resist giving planning permission for these types of units. As stated, there do not appear to be clear guidelines. Applications are being turned down. The example I gave is replicated hundreds of times right across the west Cork area. I am asking, in a very long-winded way, how aware the Minister is of that and if there will be consultation. I know the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has a role to play in this as well, but I would like to hear the Minister's opinion. We need to introduce short-term letting but not in a way that will negatively impact the very important provision of tourism accommodation in areas that depend on tourism.