Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:

The legislation in 2019 that included short-term letting planning with rent pressure zones was an attempt to regulate the sector in some way but my understanding at the time was that the Department of tourism was not involved in it so it came down to the Department of housing. It was limited in what it could do and the local authority did not have the resources to set about doing anything about it. Planning, however, was always needed. It was not that in 2019, suddenly, in a rent pressure zone, planning was needed. Planning was always needed to change a property to short-term use. It was just that from 2019 onwards, you were less likely to be given the planning if in a rent pressure zone. The difference with this legislation is that an onus will be put on the platforms as well and that will make a real difference. A step back from that is where Fáilte Ireland and the local authorities will exchange data. From our understanding, once a host registers and ticks the box to say they have planning permission, they will be issued with a registration number. Fáilte Ireland will cross-check that information with the local authorities. If the local authorities come back to say no planning is associated with that property, then the owner will be notified and appropriate action will be taken to remove that registration number from them. That exchange of data and the efficient systems in place between Fáilte Ireland and the local authorities will be key for this to work well.