James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

Next is my good self, unfortunately. I found both contributions very interesting. It reminds me of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities in the sense that it is great but it is a big problem. The ratios that were read out were very interesting. It was said in Dungarvan that the ratio is one short-term let to six long-term lets.

Youghal is my home town. Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about it and knows it well because she has family connections in the area. There are many locations that are considered tourist locations. Looking at what is proposed in the legislation, we need to be careful that there is a degree of protection for tourist towns and areas and an acceptance that there will be a higher number of short-term lets in those areas. We spoke about Milltown Malbay - I know it well - and other parts of the country.

There is also the social aspect of homelessness and the huge residential housing stock that is in short-term lets. I think it was Deputy Danny Healy-Rae who came to the committee a couple of weeks ago and spoke of houses and housing estates in Killarney that were being used as Airbnbs. There needs to be a balance. There is a difference between what Deputy Crowe described in terms of retrofitted caravans, glamping, granny flats, etc., and purpose-retrofitted tourist accommodation. Separating all that out is very difficult. The approach from the Department has not taken into consideration the protection of tourist locations. I think there is a general consensus on that.

I want to ask the Irish Host Community a question in relation to data. Do we have data on how many short-term lets nationwide would not be compliant with planning laws if these changes were to take place? Do we know how many people are affected? Is there any way of finding that out for the Department or the committee?