Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:

Go raibh maith ag an gCathaoirleach agus lucht an choiste as ucht an cuireadh labhairt anseo inniu.

I thank the Chair and the members of the joint committee for inviting us here today to speak to them about the impacts of the proposed short-term and tourist letting Bill. We have been invited here to tell our stories as hosts in the short-term rental sector. We are a sector that has many labels, from short-term rentals to short-term lets or self-catering accommodation. Regardless of our labels, the stories we tell here today represent thousands of hosts across the country.

We are tired. For years, we have been lambasted in the media as being the cause of the housing crisis. We have faced huge uncertainty as to whether we can continue earning our living. Our contributions to Irish tourism and the wider economy have been ignored. We have been drip-fed information about potential legislation and how it will affect us, with no clarity or certainty.

We are worried. We have no issue with registering our short-term lets. We understand the need to implement EU legislation and to collect data on short-term lets. However, this legislation, coupled with heavy planning burdens and potentially costly compliance measures, threaten the viability of genuine hosts and their ability to continue.

There are so many unanswered questions. The registration system includes ticking a box to say that a short-term rental is planning permission compliant. What kind of planning permission do we need? How much will it cost? How long will it take? What are the long-term implications of changing the use of property? Most are not exclusively used for short-term letting. The process is unclear, time-consuming and costly.

Local authorities apply inconsistent standards. No national guidelines or templates have been issued yet. Many short-term rentals, such as converted barns, granny flats or heritage properties, cannot realistically meet commercial planning criteria, despite being safe and well-maintained.

Furthermore, questions remain unanswered about building and fire regulations. Linking registration to modern building regulations is impractical for older properties and rural structures. Compliance upgrades for older listings, traditional cottages or yurts are often prohibitively expensive and unnecessary given existing safety measures. Some properties or spaces available for short-term letting were created purely for short-term letting. They are not suitable for any other purpose.

Thousands of hosts around the country are living with fear and uncertainty while these questions remain unanswered. We are grateful for the opportunity to speak to the committee today. It is the first time we have been given a voice to speak as stakeholders in this regulatory process. We hope that the members listen to our stories. Our stories are echoed in towns and villages across the country. We are asking the members of the committee here today to stand up for us. Take the fear and uncertainty away from us so we can continue to provide a vital service in the months and years to come.

Why is our service so vital? Short-term lettings have existed for decades in different forms. Hosting visitors is in our DNA, offering local knowledge and personal insight to ensure our guests' stay is the best it can be, and helping visitors make memories, and a lot of times that brings them back year after year. We are the original céad míle fáilte. We offer our homes and our histories to our visitors. We are also keeping large-scale national infrastructure projects progressing by hosting workers for the ESB and National Broadband Ireland and many more in places where there are no hotels or other options. We offer choices to people looking to relocate, work remotely, return home for a family wedding or a funeral and so much more. We are adaptable and flexible to our guests' needs.

Short-term rentals are a vital cog in a healthy housing market. We are also vital for tourism. Tourism is Ireland’s largest indigenous industry. Some 300,000 jobs are created by tourism with 200,000 jobs reliant on overseas visitors. In 2023, there were 6.5 million guest nights booked in Ireland through short-term rental platforms alone. In 2023, €1.7 billion was spent by visitors,

81% of it spent in shops, restaurants and cafés, on transport and on recreational and cultural activities.

Budget 2025 allocated €226 million to tourism services, including extending Fáilte Ireland’s international marketing campaigns. A total of 77,315 tourism beds have been contracted to the Irish Government for the 2025 season, potentially costing the tourism sector up €670 million annually in lost earnings. If our short-term rentals are eradicated, where will people stay?

This Department is responsible for enterprise, tourism and employment. Short-term letting hosts are enterprising people. We create jobs and support our local economies, from cafés and restaurants to local laundry services, hardware shops and tourist attractions. The employment we create is flexible and usually seasonal. A total of 70% of hosts are female. Employment roles within the sector and ancillary businesses are predominantly female driven – cleaning, launderettes, local shops and businesses. Short-term letting hosting allows women who are homemakers, raising children and carers to work. It is vital to people, particularly women, in areas where other employment opportunities are low or unreliable.

Tourism generated approximately 67% of the pre-Covid employment in regional and rural Ireland. The Wild Atlantic Way alone drives €3 billion in revenue per year, an increase of 58% in ten years. New regulation in this current form will devastate a whole industry and decimate many rural and regional communities that depend on tourism. We conducted our own research among the Irish hosting community in 2023. Eighty-nine per cent of people surveyed would not switch their property to long-term letting. Eighty per cent said that their local community depends on short-term lets to bring business to their area. We are here today to ask the committee members to think carefully about how this legislation is implemented. Think about your locality and your constituency. How will your towns and villages survive without having the option to stay in a short-term let? Think about the impact on tourism in your area. Think about the impact on enterprise in your area. Think about the impact on employment in your area. Think about our jobs. This is our livelihood.

I now invite Karna to share her story.