Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

I thank Mr. Murtagh. I agree we need to do a lot in the big cities. I have spoken previously about major tourist towns with populations of over 10,000 but, again, they can apply for that. For the likes of members of the Irish Host Community, it does seem in some ways that the genuine operators are not being given a helping hand here. I would be interested in their views on this but maybe it is because, on the one hand, it is about tourism registration but it is a totally different Department for the planning regulations. I am open to hearing from anyone who has better information but I doubt the local authorities have been given the proper information yet. We have been told during presentations at the committee that it is simple and that you just apply and do not have to do big drawings of the structure of the property. Rather, it just has to be registered under planning, but they have not gone into the detail of that, nor have they gone into the details of how it will be drawn out on maps. For example, Ballina was mentioned. The Ballina municipal district stretches almost as far as Killala into a rural area on the Wild Atlantic Way. No one knows where exactly the boundary will be. It is up to people to kind of self-regulate and say they think they are compliant and will reference this. It is very tricky.

In terms of the Irish Host Community's membership, will the representatives reconfirm for the committee that it is about people who own property they would not or could not in a million years use? There may be relatives coming home at different times or family members who might want to use it, and at other times they may need to make a few quid but do not want to have someone who is permanently there such that they cannot offer it out. In some cases successive generations have used properties and in some cases it is a business specifically in a tourist area that has been identified. In that context, does the Irish Host Community think the Bill, on the tourism side, gives enough distinction? Is it confident the actual application process to be registered covers its members? Is it more to do with the confusion over planning or over mapping or is there more?