Ms Karla Piner:

I have been welcoming guests to Connell's House and Barn in the Boyne Valley, County Meath for almost ten years. In 2014, I acquired a protected structure dating back to 1690 with the specific intention to start a self-catering holiday cottage business. Connell's House and Barn was a landmark building on the Village Green in Duleek, consisting of a derelict thatched cottage and stone barn. I received planning permission in 2015 to restore and extend Connell's House and Barn.

I was told by my architect and a senior planner in Meath County Council that I did not require change of use planning permission since both properties were existing, they did not have more than four bedrooms and I did not intend on sleeping more than four guests in each bedroom. Therefore, a standard planning application to restore and extend was sufficient.

In June 2016, I welcomed my first guests to Connell's House and Barn and have since developed a successful hospitality business, with guests coming from all over the world to explore the Boyne Valley. However, on 1 July 2019, suddenly my business became non-compliant literally overnight when the first short-term rentals, STR, Bill was passed. Although my cottages are located in Duleek, County Meath, they fall into the local electoral area, LEA, of Drogheda, County Louth, which is a rent pressure zone, RPZ. I did not do anything wrong. I paid an architect to apply for planning permission and he followed the correct planning policy at the time. However, with the introduction of the STR Bill in 2019, my business was suddenly deemed illegal due to no fault of my own and I found myself in a situation where I had to apply for planning permission all over again.

In January 2020, I received three quotations in the region of €6,000 to €8,000 for a change of use planning application and a further €2,000 for a heritage impact study, which is required for all protected structures. I was also quoted an additional €2,000 for a fire certificate. However, by March 2020, my business was closed due to Covid, so I did not pursue my planning application. The last five years have been extremely difficult as my business is in limbo. I never know from one year to the next if I will still be in business. The information from the Government to date has been inconsistent and the goalposts are always moving in terms of the deadline for the legislation as well as the content within it. I was advised by three architects not to apply for change of use planning permission. I was told to wait for the enforcement letter to arrive and only then apply for planning permission. I recently spoke to a planner in Meath County Council and was told that it has received no communication or guidelines from the Government in relation to this legislation.

I am a furniture designer and worked in the furniture industry for almost 20 years. Like every other mother, I have done the 6 a.m. morning starts and ferried my children to and from childminders. Starting my own business and restoring a thatched cottage was a dream come true. It is hard physical work with long hours at times, but it has given me the flexibility to take my own children to and from school. It does not pay nearly as much as my previous job, but it has transformed our family life and provided me with a very rewarding job.

Almost 90% of my guests are American. Coming to Ireland is a holiday of a lifetime and staying in a traditional thatched cottage is exactly the experience they are looking for.

I went to my bank manager in 2014 with a business plan to start a self-catering holiday cottage business. I did not want to be a landlord. That business model could not be further from the hospitality sector. Since Brexit, I have been clinging on to my insurance policy, as insuring these buildings is almost impossible. Hence, many of them lie derelict across the country. If my business is shut down, I cannot just become a landlord as I cannot get the appropriate insurance. I cannot sell the building as no one can get a mortgage on a building without insurance. I have proved that restoring a thatched cottage is a viable business model. It provides a valuable contribution to the tourism sector and supports the local economy in County Meath.

I will hand over to Ms Cahill to tell her story.