Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media
General Scheme of the Registration of Short-Term Tourist Letting Bill 2022: Discussion
Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome our colleagues and, more importantly, I welcome the guests who are here with us today. I have a little bit of housekeeping to do and hope they can bear with me. Can I take it that the draft minutes of our public and private committee meetings on 18 January 2023 are formally agreed and that there are no matters arising? Is that agreed? Agreed.
This meeting has been convened to discuss the general scheme of the registration of short-term tourist letting Bill 2022. On behalf of the committee I warmly welcome the tourism policy unit from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, namely, Mr. Bernard O'Shea, principal officer, and Ms Michelle O'Mahony, assistant principal. Given that the Bill addresses action 20.4 of the Housing for All action plan, which seeks to develop new regulatory controls requiring short-term holiday lets to register with Fáilte Ireland officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Fáilte Ireland are also in attendance. To this end I also welcome from the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage, Mr. Terry Sheridan, principal officer, and Mr. Eoghan O'Brien, assistant principal. From Fáilte Ireland I welcome Ms Jenny De Saulles, director of industry development, who is joined by Mr. Fergal O'Leary, head of legislation and grading. They are all very welcome.
The format of the meeting is such that I will invite our witnesses to deliver their opening statements, which are limited to three minutes. This will be followed by questions from my colleagues. As the witnesses are probably aware, the committee may publish the opening statements on its webpage.
Before I invite our witnesses to deliver their opening statements, I must explain some limitations with regard to parliamentary privilege and the practice of the Houses with regard to references that witnesses make to other persons in their evidence. The evidence of witnesses physically present or who give evidence from within the parliamentary precincts is protected pursuant to the Constitution and statute by absolute privilege. Witnesses are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of that person or entity.
Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory in relation to any identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks.
Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the House or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. I also want to remind members of the constitutional requirements that they must be physically present within the confines of Leinster House to participate at the public meeting.
I propose we proceed to opening statements from Mr. Bernard O'Shea from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts. Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Mr. Terry Sheridan from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Ms Jenny De Saulles from Fáilte Ireland.
I propose that I be excused from the committee for a little while due to unforeseen circumstances and that Senator Malcolm Byrne takes the chair in my absence. Is that agreed? Agreed. I will be back to join the conversation in a little while.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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As the Chair outlined, Mr. O'Shea will give the opening statement on behalf of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
Mr. Bernard O'Shea:
I welcome the opportunity to discuss this Bill with the committee. I am joined by Ms Michelle O’Mahony, assistant principal, who is working with me on this legislation. On 7 December, the Government approved the priority drafting of the registration of short-term tourist letting Bill and publication of the general scheme of the Bill.
It is useful to consider the background to the introduction of this proposed legislation. My Department’s statement of strategy includes the goal of supporting the recovery and economic growth of a competitive tourism sector that is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable. The Government’s housing policy, Housing for All, includes the objective of making more efficient use of existing housing. One of the actions to achieve this is the development of new regulatory controls requiring short-term and holiday lets to register with Fáilte Ireland, with a view to ensuring that houses are used to best effect in areas of housing need.
The main provisions of the Bill being considered here today are: the establishment of a short-term tourist letting register; the provision that any party offering accommodation for periods of up to and including 21 nights will need to be registered with Fáilte Ireland; and an obligation on those advertising properties for short-term letting to ensure that the properties have a valid registration number. The Bill also provides for enforcement of the proposed regulations.
The introduction of the register will provide an accurate record of all short-term letting stock across the country. This will assist the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and local authorities in ensuring proper planning and sustainable development. From a tourism perspective, the proposed legislation will allow Fáilte Ireland to have, for the first time, a full picture of tourist accommodation across the State, significantly enhancing its ability to promote and drive tourism investment.
The Bill will be examined further during the drafting process, taking into account the publication of the proposed EU regulation along with the Digital Services Act, which was signed into law on 27 October and came into force on 16 November 2022. In addition, the general scheme has been notified to the EU Commission under the requirements of the EU technical regulation information society directive.
The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, looks forward to working with Oireachtas colleagues to progress this legislation in the interests of the sustainable development of tourism and contributing to the better use of existing housing for the common good. She hopes it can be passed and enacted as early as possible in 2023.
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
I thank the Acting Chair and members for affording me the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in relation to the general scheme of the Bill on the regulation of the short-term letting sector. As the committee is aware, large numbers of properties have been withdrawn from the long-term rental market in recent years for use as more lucrative short-term lettings, in particular in larger urban centres where housing demand and need is most acute. This trend, which has been largely facilitated by online platforms, has had a negative impact on the supply and availability of long-term rental accommodation in the private rental sector and in driving up rents.
Against this background, new legislative provisions, enforced by planning authorities, were introduced in 2019 under the Planning and Development Act and supplementary regulations. The primary objective of the reforms was to influence the bringing back of houses and apartments in designated rent pressure zones, which were being used for short-term letting purposes, to the traditional long-term rental market, thereby helping to ease the accommodation shortage pressures in the designated areas and to stabilise rents.
The enforcement of the 2019 provisions was beginning to have some, albeit limited, effect on reducing the numbers of short-term letting properties advertising on online platforms. However, the Covid-19 pandemic which came along in early 2020 had a greater impact and resulted in large numbers of properties being temporarily withdrawn from the short-term letting sector and instead being offered as long-term rental accommodation, most frequently on contracts of three to six months, in order to generate rental income for property owners while the Covid-19 related travelling restrictions impacted on the tourism sector.
However, this trend has now been reversed with most of those properties which temporarily operated as long-term rental accommodation during Covid-19 having returned to short-term letting as the tourism sector and visitor numbers have recovered, thereby impacting negatively once again on the availability of accommodation in the private rental sector. It is conceded that those 2019 legislative provisions, as operated under the planning code, were not idea,l primarily due to some practical difficulties in the enforcement of the provisions by the local authorities which, as I have indicated, were not helped by the onset of Covid.
The proposed new approach to regulate the sector, as outlined in the general scheme being discussed here today, has been devised by the Department of Tourism,Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in consultation with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, learning from the experience with the 2019 legislation, as well as the systems operated in regulating short-term letting in other countries. I am confident that if properly applied and enforced, the proposed new arrangements requiring property owners to be appropriately planning compliant in order to, in the first instance, register with Fáilte Ireland, and second, to advertise on online platforms, will ensure homes are used to best effect in areas of housing need, as mandated by Housing for All, while also providing an appropriate balance between the needs of the long-term rental sector and the need for tourist accommodation. I thank members for their attention
Ms Jenny De Saulles:
Fáilte Ireland was tasked by the Government with developing an efficient and effective registration system for short-term tourist lettings in Ireland. Based on international best practice, the system we have developed will allow us to have an accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date register of all short-term tourist properties across the country. We estimate there are at least 30,000 short-term letting properties currently being advertised online.
To create, launch and manage this register, a new division within Fáilte Ireland was established. This division has been working over the last year to ensure all registration processes and procedures are in place in advance of the legislation being enacted. When the legislation is passed, property owners advertising short-term tourism accommodation for periods up to and including 21 nights will have a statutory obligation to register their property with Fáilte Ireland. Property owners will be provided with a unique registration number for each property registered. This number will need to be used on all booking platforms and advertisements. Subject to the passing of legislation, the short-term tourist letting registration system will be ready to launch in April 2023
Regarding the impact of the register on the tourism sector, tourism cannot and does not exist in isolation of local communities.
Fáilte Ireland works to develop tourism in a way that is consistent with and complementary to the needs of host communities economically and socially. For communities to thrive, there must be a balanced mix of long-term private rental and short-term letting accommodation for tourists and, therefore, both in the context of long-term sustainable development of tourism and short-term tourism staff accommodation challenges, we believe this initiative is not just good for housing but is also good news for tourism. The register will also allow Fáilte Ireland to have a full picture of the stock of tourist accommodation across the State for the first time. This will significantly enhance our ability to promote and drive tourism investment.
To minimise disruption to the tourism industry, there will be a six-month clarification period. This will allow those property owners operating in the sector to clarify their position on relevant planning regulations, or for those to apply for change of use planning permission to continue offering their accommodation as tourist accommodation while their application is being considered and processed. It is important to note that the introduction of the new register will not alter or impact upon planning permission requirements. As short-term letting accommodation is vital for the tourism industry, Fáilte Ireland will also continue to work with local authorities to ensure any housing stock that is not suitable for private housing may continue to be used for tourism purposes.
Since the draft legislation was published in December, Fáilte Ireland has conducted information sessions with more than 30 industry stakeholders, including representative groups, booking platforms and property owners, to outline how the register will work and what impact it may have them on their business. The issues raised mostly concern planning permission and the time it will take to update websites and bookings sites. With regard to planning permission, I have spoken about the clarification period. With regard to updating websites, we will work with booking platforms on a technical solution to automate the verification of registration numbers to ensure that the process of getting a property uploaded is quick and straightforward. In conclusion, Fáilte Ireland welcomes the progress of the Bill and we look forward to launching the register as soon as legislation is enacted. In the meantime, we will continue to engage with stakeholders to ensure that everyone is in a position to understand the new requirements.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I thank Ms De Saulles and the other witnesses. Members now have five minutes each for both questions and answers. Deputy Cannon is first and will be followed by Deputy Munster.
Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for being with us and for outlining the intent of this significant and groundbreaking legislation. I have concerns about what we are setting out to do. They centre mostly around tourism in rural Ireland and in places that are not what we might describe as the big beasts or traditional destinations for tourists throughout the country. I live in a small east Galway village, Carrabane, which is about 15 minutes from Athenry and 10 minutes from Loughrea. Until the advent of Airbnb, we never saw tourists from any country in our community, in any context. Approximately five years ago, three different providers began renting accommodation, one of whom - Bookeen Hall - is regularly cited on news sites around the world as being one of the best Airbnbs in the world. Members can look it up if they want. The owners of Bookeen Hall began using a spare room in their home and in another instance a castle that had been repurposed and had a couple of rooms spare was used. Another local farm family turned one of their farm sheds into an Airbnb. All three of those providers have been exceptionally successful. Now, when I go on my walk in the local forest, I meet people from Spain, Germany, Italy and recently, Scotland. Without that Airbnb presence, that was never going to happen.
We need to be exceptionally careful in protecting that aspect of Irish tourism, which has been, from my perspective, a most welcome intervention on the part of a big multinational. It is empowering rural communities across this country to showcase their homes, communities and all the amenities that they are proud to have, such as the forest walk, to the world on an immensely stable, simple and straightforward platform that is successful not just here in Ireland, but across the world. In anything we set out to do here, we must strive to protect that to the greatest extent. I will make proposals to amend certain elements of this legislation, which I have been informed by those very people and indeed the advocacy groups that are now emerging on their behalf have the potential to threaten their livelihoods and additional income.
As witnesses and members will appreciate, many of these are rural farm families. Any additional income one can generate from one's farm holding is most welcome. Second, there is a growing number of accommodation providers in Dublin and perhaps in Cork, Galway and Limerick to an extent. They are anywhere where we have a large multinational investment presence, and they offer what one might describe as semi-long stays to executives visiting from abroad who are seeking good quality short-term accommodation in Ireland. Currently, there is a 14-night minimum that one must have to be able to continue providing accommodation described as a short-term let. I gather that this legislation is setting out to increase that to a 21-night minimum. Is that the case? I want to clarify that. Second, are there any concerns that in imposing that 21-night minimum we will make it more difficult, rather than easier, for those visiting executives and for their colleagues here in Ireland to be able to facilitate these kind of visits, which are happening, as we are aware, on a regular basis as people move in and out of those big multinational entities? Those are my initial observations. We need to tread carefully here to ensure we do not kill the golden goose.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I will be flexible on time but I ask that people be reasonably succinct in their answers.
Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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My apologies for not being particularly succinct in my contribution.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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That is okay. I believe Mr. O'Shea is indicating.
Mr. Bernard O'Shea:
I agree with the Deputy on the value of the platform and the emerging sector over the past 15 years. Frankly, it has played a huge part in facilitating that growth we have had in tourism. We will be mindful to ensure that we get the balance right in the legislation between long-term and short-term housing. That is certainly the intention in establishing the register pursuant to what is provided for in Housing for All. I completely agree with that point. We are across the issue of business tourism, as he referred to. As we see it, there is no inconsistency between the planning requirement of 14 nights and the 21 nights referred to in the legislation, which is for tourism reasons. The 14 nights are within the 21 nights, so we do not see an issue there per se. My colleague from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage might want to come in on the planning issue.
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
These new arrangements are going to be supplemented by new planning guidelines. In the 2019 legislation because the arrangements only apply to rent pressure zones, there is a general presumption that they will not apply to short-term lets in rural communities and in non-rent pressure zone areas. That was the approach we adopted in 2019 in tackling and trying to address accommodation shortages in the areas of greatest housing need. As I mentioned, we will supplement the legislation with new planning guidelines that are still being considered and developed, but we are cognisant of the potential impacts on rural communities. It is quite likely that there will be greater flexibility in enabling properties in rural areas and small rural communities to continue in operation. Local authorities will probably have to take account of different factors in different areas, depending on whether they are urban or rural. I do not foresee the problems the Deputy has outlined in this regard in being able to obtain planning permission.
He also mentioned corporate- and executive-type lets. Again, we exempted these types of properties from the provisions in the 2019 legislation.
We took the view that they did not entail not short-term stays in the normal transient tourism sense. People such as those on a contract with a multinational for a short-term period would be living in the accommodation almost on a semi-resident basis, visiting shops, restaurants and all the other local facilities. Again, this can be examined further.
Ms Jenny De Saulles:
The products the Deputy mentioned are fundamental to tourism. As short-term letting accommodation, they are vital to the tourism sector. Fáilte Ireland will continue to work with local authorities to ensure housing stock not suitable for private housing may continue to be used for tourism. That is one reason we asked for the six-month clarification period. It takes a lot of pressure off for the season and allows us to work through the issues. Fáilte Ireland will definitely be working with Departments to make sure as much tourism accommodation as possible is maintained.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Fáilte Ireland's initial scoping exercise identified 30,000 properties. In relative terms, how many beds does that amount to?
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Fáilte Ireland identified ten staff for oversight and and so on. That is one member of staff to 13,000 properties. Why was it just ten staff? Was this due to budget constraints, or was there another reason it was felt one member of staff would be sufficient for 13,000 properties?
Mr. Fergal O'Leary:
I was hired specifically to lead up this task in Fáilte Ireland. I have a background in regulation. It is my view that the ten staff dedicated to this, supplemented by external legal, financial and ICT expertise, can deliver. The system has been set up to be efficient and cost-effective, but it is being set up to impose an obligation on the property owners and platforms. We believe we can do this very leanly. That is why the given resources have been requested. We feel that over the next 12 to 18 months, subject to legislation being in place, we can have an accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date register with the resources we have been given.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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So Mr. O'Leary is fairly confident that Fáilte Ireland has sufficient resources to oversee adherence and that sort of thing.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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What sort of powers will the staff have? Could they enter a property if they suspected it was being let but not registered?
Mr. Fergal O'Leary:
We will have authorised officers with powers similar to those of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and broadly similar to those of the Residential Tenancies Board. They will have powers to inspect properties but, given how the system is being set up, it is unlikely that they will have to do this. One is obliged to have a valid Fáilte Ireland registration number if one intends to advertise a property. Again, that is efficient and allows us to do checks nationwide according to a desk-based arrangement.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Are there 30,000 places identified already that have not in any form been declared?
Mr. Fergal O'Leary:
That is a good point. That is the reason we need to set up a register. The figure of 30,000 is based on screen-scraped information from the large booking platforms. We believe it is reasonably representative of what is being advertised currently, but until we have a register in place and the legislation that allows for that-----
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Is Mr O'Leary saying that compliance with registration is down to the individual property owner?
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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What powers will the enforcement officers have if they suspect somebody has not registered? It is back to that question.
Mr. Fergal O'Leary:
The first thing we would do if we saw an advertisement on a booking platform that did not have a valid registration number is ask for it to be taken off all platforms. This is what we describe as an access-to-the-market-type registration regime. We also have powers concerning the individual property owners, perhaps to fine them or allow them time to regularise whatever issues they face in registering. We have powers on both sides.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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On the sites on which the initial scoping was done, including short-term letting sites, was social media, including Facebook pages, included? Is that yet to be done?
Mr. Fergal O'Leary:
Our focus at the moment is the large booking platforms because that is where most of the advertising is. The Deputy is absolutely right, however, in that properties are advertised on Facebook, Instagram and other social media sites. They are also advertised in local shops such as Supervalu. Our powers in the proposed legislation will allow us to see and act against all that, wherever the advertising is done.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It was stated it will not be possible to collect fees for one or two years. Is that correct? Head 11 states it will not be possible to collect fees for one or two years. Is that correct?
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Is Mr O'Shea saying that, immediately from the day a property owner registers, the fee will be applied? Alternatively, will it take time before fees could be applied?
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Has Mr. O'Leary any idea what the fee will be?
Mr. Fergal O'Leary:
The honest answer is that we are working on it, but we are mindful of the costs faced by all businesses at the moment. We are examining similar registration fees elsewhere, not just across Europe but across the world. We hope to have the fees finalised before the register is launched, or in the next month or so, and we can revert to the committee with the details once we have them and they have been approved by the Department.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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That is grand.
My next question is for Mr. Sheridan. When Fáilte Ireland was tasked, it identified 30,000 properties based on its initial scoping of sites. How come the Department did not do that folllowing the legislation in 2019?
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It is a hell of a lot of properties.
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
Yes. The purpose of the 2019 legislation was to regulate the properties in the sector and strengthen the provisions so they could be enforced properly and so owners would have to have the necessary planning permission. The legislation was introduced under the planning code. We encountered some difficulties in enforcing the provisions adequately. As I have mentioned, we were not helped by Covid, which occurred shortly after we introduced the provisions.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Did the Department have a dedicated enforcement team or officers?
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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So public money was paid entering into the contract engaging enforcement officers
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Through the Department?
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Through the Department, more or less.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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So 30,000 properties and 130,000 beds have been provided by the Department through engaging enforcement contractors since 2019. It is now the start of 2023 but the Department has not a lot to show from this endeavour.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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So certain situations are exempt but others were not.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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What percentage? Are there statistics available?
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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So the percentage may not be sizeable but nonetheless it is still 30,000 properties.
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
From engagement with Dublin City Council, which had the most enforcement resources, the estimates that it gave to us in respect of its functional area were that approximately 50% of the properties were non-principal private residences so houses and apartments to which the regulations applied, and the other 50% were home shares where people rented out a room or rooms in their properties, and those properties were exempt from the provisions.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Even if one plumps for 50%, and presume that it is accurate, then there were many thousands of properties that could have been identified but were not.
Reference was made to new planning guidelines being brought in to overcome or correct the difficulties with the planning authorities. What will the new guidelines entail in order to correct the difficulties?
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
First on the enforcement difficulties that we encountered, online platforms do not indicate the addresses of properties on their systems just photographs so local authorities had difficulty in identifying the properties. That was a particular problem in the first instance. After properties were identified there was a problem getting the register.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Would Land Registry Services or Registry of Deeds not identify properties?
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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They do not just advertise a home and not say where it is.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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One is not going to book a week at a lovely place advertised on Booking.com when one does not know where it is.
Mr. Eoghan O'Brien:
In an awful lot of cases one would just get the areas. Let us say one wants to rent a property in Dublin then one will get an area of Dublin and when one looks at the map there will be a general circle around, say, Temple Bar and the website will display photographs of the interior of the apartment and there will be nothing external. So it is very difficult to identify a property.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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In some cases.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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What will the new planning guidelines entail in order to correct the difficulties that have been experienced and make this worthwhile?
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
The guidelines are primarily aimed at assisting local authorities in determining the change of use planning applications for short-term letting properties. So they will outline the criteria that will have to be taken into account by local authorities. For example, the housing demand in the area, the need to return residential properties to the long-term sector, the number of properties on the local authority housing waiting list, the cumulative impacts of granting permission to short-term lets in terms of impacts on residents and local neighbourhoods, noise, services and all that type of stuff. All of those factors will be outlined in the guidelines.
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Is there a difficulty with proving the ownership of properties?
Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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How will the new guidelines correct the situation?
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
People will have to apply for planning permission and having obtained that they will have to apply to Fáilte Ireland to register on the system. Only Fáilte Ireland-registered properties will be allowed to advertise on the platforms. The applicants or owners will identify the properties themselves from the beginning.
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome all of the witnesses. In particular, I welcome the Fáilte Ireland delegation who are regular attendees here. As has been noted, the register if it works well can assist in the promotion of our product.
I welcome the fact that an official from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has said that the "general presumption" is that the provisions will not apply beyond rent pressure, which was said when those officials addressed the fears outlined by Deputy Cannon, which are fears I share. In allaying those fears, it was said that the operators in rural Ireland, in areas that were heretofore not the subject of tourism traffic, are now benefiting in particular because of things like greenways where people are off the beaten track. I see that now as a new greenway will be opened in my county and will stretch from Navan to Cavan. It is amazing what a greenway can do for the area. A greenway provides a different type of tourism product so a different type of operator is required that is beyond the traditional type of operator, which is what people are looking for in the tourism offering. We have so many rigid systems and people are so fluid now in how they choose that they need to be given other offerings. Mr. Sheridan made an interesting statement when he said that the new planning guidelines will supplement the initiative. When will the new planning guidelines be available?
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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When is that envisaged?
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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Will the planning guidelines come later?
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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Can the officials give a rough estimate of when that will happen?
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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So it is the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, in terms of moving the legislation and the planning guidelines will only come from yourselves after the legislation has gone through. Is that right?
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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There is the issue. The officials have said to us that there is a general presumption there would be wriggle room per seso that the people we are concerned about are not going to be subjected to a new regime of onerous loss. Does Mr. Sheridan understand where I am coming from?
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
Yes. Our main concern is to try to increase the number of private rental properties and bring back the short-term letting properties to the long-term market. Primarily, in the areas of greatest housing need, our focus would not be on the rural areas where there is not the same housing demand for long-term properties.
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate that. In response to Deputy Munster, Mr. Sheridan mentioned working with local authorities, taking account of areas of demand. In the here and now that information is available by way of county development plans, housing demand and where, under population growth, these areas are allowed to go. So even if the Department did not speak to the local authority but looked at housing statistics and county development plans it would know where that would be. Again, I want to know how prescriptive this is going to be in harming the rural areas in all of our counties which avail of this at the moment and do not net any real new additional letting properties, which is what the Department wants to do but wanting to make them available to the Department.
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
As I said, our primary focus in all of this from the beginning has been the urban areas of greatest housing demand. As I mentioned previously, the 2019 legislation did not apply outside the rent pressure zones. We are now going to have to devise new guidelines, which perhaps may have different criteria depending on where the properties are located. That is what we are in the process of doing. We are trying to set out criteria so that local authorities can determine individual applications on a case-by-case basis while taking account of the criteria that we will issue to them.
These will probably be guidelines that we will issue under section 28 of the Planning Act. They will be mandatory guidelines that planning authorities will have to comply with in the performance of their planning functions. We are not in the business of trying to put properties in rural areas where there is no housing need or demand out of business.
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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I do not envisage that the Department is doing so, but there can be inadvertent consequences. Things that happen in here can have ramifications in local areas. The Department, the Government and all of us collectively have done a huge amount of work in trying to bring properties above premises back into life. I am talking about hospitality in particular. There is a symbiotic relationship. There could be someone running a restaurant or rural bar. Properties in the main streets of villages with vacant units above them may suddenly end up falling in under this.
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
I would not be as concerned as the Senator about that. Properties in more rural areas where there is not the scarcity of long-term private rented accommodation are more likely to be in areas where there will be a more flexible approach on the part of local authorities because there is not the same housing demand.
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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So the flexibility will come down to local authority level to identify the areas of demand.
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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Fáilte Ireland gave a figure of 30,000. There is a presumption that 12,000 will be brought back into use. Scoping work has been done for a figure of 12,000 being arrived at for putting units back into use. How is that broken down across the country?
Mr. Bernard O'Shea:
I will answer that and then invite colleagues from Fáilte Ireland to follow up. At the time of the publication of the Bill, we were asked to put an estimate on the likely impact on tourism. Based on international experience and the likelihood that many of these properties are operating without planning permission in major urban areas and they are unlikely to receive planning permission when the register is established, the figure of up to 12,000 was the best estimate we could put on it. That was based on international experience. Colleagues in Fáilte Ireland might know more about that.
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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Before we move on, I would say it is fortunate that both the Department and Fáilte Ireland are here together. Only a couple of weeks ago, Fáilte Ireland, the Irish Hotels Federation and other representatives from tourism were here warning vigorously about where we stand. The percentages were broken down by county of hotel beds being taken out of the system by one Department and reference was made to the impact that is going to have on domestic tourism in particular. With the analysis of 12,000, where is it likely to hit?. We have a very big issues there as I am sure Mr. O'Shea will accept.
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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That is where we have the most price pressure which we highlighted quite clearly here last summer.
Mr. Bernard O'Shea:
It is absolutely a problem. There is probably never a good time to take stock out of our tourism accommodation base but as I said in my statement, we are committed to sustainable tourism growth. The Department's view is that for tourism to be sustainable, it needs to operate in such a way that it does not harmfully impact the availability of long-term rentals in the communities it serves.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I am conscious of time. I will let the Senator finish.
Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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I would like to ask Ms De Saulles for her assessment.
Ms Jenny De Saulles:
As Mr. O'Shea said, there is no good time for this. That is one of the reasons the six months really helps us. That six-month clarification period should mean that any businesses have the season. For the 2023 season they will still be able to operate as tourism accommodation. From our analysis, as Mr. O'Leary said, we do not exactly know where these properties are but according to the analysis from Dublin City Council and so on, they seem to be dense in the urban areas and that is where we would expect most of the stock to come out.
Annie Hoey (Labour)
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Were short-term lets always defined as 21 days? I had a figure of 14 days in my head. Has that always been the case or does this legislation change the figure?
Annie Hoey (Labour)
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So this will move it to 21 days. What is the rationale for that? Forgive me if it has been answered. I was in the Chamber.
Mr. Eoghan O'Brien:
Yes and no. It is going to be 21 days for the tourism register. For the planning requirements, it will remain at 14 days. There is a section where anyone operating above 14 days but within the 21-day period may need to register with Fáilte Ireland but they would benefit from a planning exemption for what they are doing.
Annie Hoey (Labour)
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Will the seven-day change incentivise or disincentivise people to either come into or leave the market?
Mr. Eoghan O'Brien:
It is not a change. The planning requirement will remain the same. It is technically not a change from a planning perspective but there will be a requirement to register. Technically the gap between the 14 and 21 days should not influence things at all. It would just be a requirement to register with Fáilte Ireland.
Annie Hoey (Labour)
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I do not think that the next subject I intend to raise falls into the ambit of this discussion but I will ask about it anyway. I am wondering if any of the discussion around this involves student accommodation being moved into short-term lets. Has there been a discussion on restricting that? The Labour Party has a lot of thoughts on student accommodation being moved into short-term lets and the impact that has. There has been some difficulty in establishing ownership of properties that are engaging in short-term lets. This is a slightly different question from that asked before. How will this be addressed? If a property owner does not register a short-term let and a fine is issued, what will the process be for Fáilte Ireland or local authorities to establish ownership?
Mr. Eoghan O'Brien:
I do not think this has any specific slant toward student lets. The requirement for appropriate planning means that if someone has planning permission for a student let, there would be an issue in getting registration with Fáilte Ireland because it would be in breach of planning to move to short-term lets. People receiving planning permission to swap accommodation to short-term letting from student accommodation would be a different issue.
Mr. Fergal O'Leary:
From the perspective of the register, we do want to have visibility over the short-term tourist lets that are in student accommodation and are let out to tourists during the summer in particular. Obviously, they are a really valuable part of the picture in many areas.
On property owners and the obligations on them, the proposed legislation places an obligation on property owners to register their property if they want to let it out to tourists. That applies to all property owners of any type, whether they are renting a room in a house, an entire house or four or five yurts or glamping pods.
If one does not do that as a property owner, one will not be able to advertise one's property. To use the Senator's phrase, that is the way we will follow the paper trail and how we will have much more visibility than there currently is in the market. Establishing the register is a key part of that.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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This is slightly awkward because the Chair was due to be back by now and my own speaking slot has come back around. I might ask questions from here if it is agreeable, then the leas-chathaoirleach will take over unless the Chair is back in time. I share many of the concerns that Deputy Cannon and Senator Cassells raised earlier. I get the point about urban areas but I want to drill down into some of the figures. In his opening statement, Mr. Sheridan said that large numbers of properties that were in the long-term residential sector have been transferred for use in the more lucrative short-term sector. Can he quantify what he means by large numbers?
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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When I refer to us making evidence-based decisions, I would like to know how many short-term rental properties that are being advertised would have been long-term rentals. When Mr. Sheridan says large numbers, we are trying to get a specific quantity.
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
We did some monitoring and research of the number of properties being advertised on the platforms in the Dublin City Council area before and during the Covid pandemic. Before Covid, there were about 6,000 properties. During Covid, that number went down to between 1,000 and 2,000. That type of property would previously have been in long-term rental, got out of it, then went back to it during Covid so that they could keep generating rental income in the long term. They have since reverted to short-term letting.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I ask Mr. Sheridan to share some of those data and that research. One concern I have is that our efforts to solve some housing issues will have a serious impact on what is happening with tourism. We all want to see many more long-term rentals being made available. It has been asserted before the committee that we could see, as a result of these policy proposals, up to 12,000 additional long-term rental properties. I tabled a Commencement matter on the issue. When will we see those 12,000 properties become available? How confident are the witnesses in standing over that figure of up to 12,000 long-term rental properties being made available as a result of these changes?
Mr. Bernard O'Shea:
I will take that from the point of view of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Because of the six-month transition and clarification period, we would likely not see the full impact until 2024. Colleagues in Fáilte Ireland can correct me if I am wrong about this estimate, but I recall that when similar controls were introduced in Amsterdam, it reduced the number available from somewhere in the region of 20,000 to 4,000. That was the impact.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I raise this because it is published on the website of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and Fáilte Ireland has cited the figure. If we take a policy decision, we are looking at potentially taking 12,000 short-term rental accommodations, which service the tourism sector and, as Deputy Cannon mentioned, the short-term executive market, out of those sectors. Mr. O'Shea is saying we will get 12,000 extra units. If something like that can be guaranteed to us, it puts us in a different position. I appreciate there will not be an immediate impact, but is Mr. O'Shea saying, if we follow through on the policy being proposed here, that in summer or autumn of 2024, as a result of this, we will see up to 12,000 additional long-term lets?
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I am in favour of the register. I think it makes a lot of sense. It will not make more sense if we do not achieve the housing solution. I get the point but there does not seem to be any evidence backing up that figure of 12,000. I do not think it will be achieved. I think it will fall way short because of the type of short-term letting that exists. Much of what is advertised on Airbnb and Booking.com includes rooms in private homes which, for the most part, will not be made available. When there are festivals such as the Wexford Opera Festival and the Rose of Tralee, people make things available for particular periods of the year. I think that we will see certain changes in urban areas but that this will be devastating for rural and coastal tourism. I am concerned about what is being proposed. The witnesses are not giving me assurances. If they were coming in and saying that their evidence shows that, as a result of this, we will have 12,000 long-term rentals next year, I think I would accept that. Our worry is that we will only get a fraction of that and instead take 12,000 short-term rental units out of the system.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I made the point about Dublin but Mr. Sheridan will appreciate that a Dublin solution cannot be applied to all of the country because the market is very different.
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
If one looks at the figures that are indicated by various other sources that monitor the sector, one will see that there are about 30,000 properties nationally. A global estimate would be that half of those would be non-principal private residences and the other half are home-sharing. The 15,000 non-principal private residences are the properties that will come under these new requirements. I am not saying that they will all be refused planning permission but a certain proportion will be, having regard to the new planning guidelines. There is potential for a significant number of properties, particularly in larger urban areas, to be transferred from the short-term sector back to the long-term sector. The 12,000 figure might have been a rough, back-of-the-envelope estimate. There is potential in the larger urban areas.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate that but we cannot deal with rough, back-of-the-envelope figures when we are looking at addressing long-term rental. If we are looking at the back of the envelope, Mr. Sheridan is essentially saying that if we take 12,000 units out of the tourism sector, all 12,000 will become available in the long-term rental sector. When we further consider this matter, I ask that we consider the planning guidelines, as proposed, and their impact. As colleagues who deal with rural planning probably know, it is not as simple to seek rural planning as one may think.
Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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And it is expensive.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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And it is expensive. I think it will put many people off from applying for this. The principle of what is trying to be achieved is good but I am alarmed that Mr. Sheridan keeps going back to Dublin City Council. There is a particular problem in the cities but I agree with Deputy Cannon. We know what is happening in many rural communities and it is completely different. One might consider a holiday let.
I can tell the Department there are lovely beachside properties all around Wexford which are fine to come and stay in during July and August but no one would want to be staying in them in a rainy January, and they are not going to come onto the long-term letting market. I ask that all of the evidence the Department has would be presented to the committee and that the planning guidelines would be presented. What is the level of engagement that has happened with stakeholders in the sector to date?
Mr. Bernard O'Shea:
We are in close contact with our stakeholders all of the time in the Department. That has been very much the case in the last couple of years because of the Covid pandemic, which strengthened that relationship, if anything. In terms of recent engagement on this particular Bill, on the day it was approved by the Government, we had consultations involving ourselves, Fáilte Ireland and all of the key tourism stakeholders, as well as the online platforms. Just yesterday, I was speaking to the Irish Self Catering Federation and I had contact with Airbnb last night. They have suggested they would like a round-table consultation with all three organisations that are represented here today and we are more than happy to facilitate that. It is something we would be doing in any event.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate that.
Mr. Fergal O'Leary:
To perhaps give the committee some reassurance, the figures we have are based on screen scraped information, so they are not official data but are data taken off the large booking websites. These tell us that, at the moment, there are around 30,000 properties being advertised to tourists. The vast majority of those are not currently registered with Fáilte Ireland through our various quality assurance schemes and up to 70% of those are full houses and apartments, with about 7,000 of them “renting a room in my principal private residence”. The figure of 12,000 is an assumption based on what has happened in a number of other jurisdictions about what happens when one introduces a register like this, what happens to the number of tourist properties available and what happens to the long-term rentals. I cannot give the committee complete certainty over those figures. All I can say is they are the best available figures that allow us to indicate what may happen - they are the best we have at the moment.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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Mr. O’Leary can understand our concerns. If he can say to us that there may be 12,000 properties, we have a concern that this could seriously damage rural and coastal tourism.
Mr. Eoghan O'Brien:
I will jump in on one point that the Acting Chairman made on planning applications. It may be that in a large number of the cases where people are outside a rent pressure zone and are looking to rent out their house, they can seek a section 5 declaration under the Planning and Development Act where this does not constitute development or is exempt. Many of them may be covered by the new guidance that we issued and it would not necessarily be a matter of putting in a planning application for change of use, and it could be that the property is considered exempt from planning and can be dealt with like that.
Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank colleagues for their forbearance and thank Senator Malcolm Byrne for taking the Chair. I call Deputy Griffin.
Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for coming in. I was following the discussion and I want to pick up on some of the points made by Deputy Cannon earlier in regard to what “short-term” can represent in the different areas. The term, “short-term” represents very different things in different places and, for example, in a big city it can represent displacement of what would otherwise be long-term accommodation, whereas in rural and more isolated areas or in less traditional tourism hot spots, it can represent the only opportunity for tourists to come and stay and spend money in the locality. I come from one of the latter areas and short-term rentals and Airbnb in recent years have represented a new opportunity for many people and businesses in my locality. This exercise is very much about trying to strike a balance and it is important that everybody is cognisant of the fact that one size does not fit all when it comes to this operation.
I want to ask a couple of questions. In regard to properties that are available as short-term lets within the curtilage of a rural one-off property, for example, where someone has a half-acre site with a house on it and may have converted the garage into a two-bed short-term stay that is currently up on Airbnb, do we know how many of those exist around the country?
Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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I am sure the witnesses are aware there are many such properties around the country and when those people go to their local authority, they will be told that, sorry, but they cannot get planning permission for various reasons - for example, it will be said that the septic tank was designed for three bedrooms and the house now has five because it has two in the garage. I know a person in my constituency in a single-income household where the individual is trying to support a family and invested in converting the garage a couple of years ago to help to support her family. I know Kerry County Council is going to turn around to her and say she will not get planning here. What is to become of that person? They have invested money. This property is bringing people into the area to stay who otherwise would not have been in the area to spend money because there were no traditional accommodation providers in the past. This will never be a long-term rental and it is within the curtilage of the house. Has that been considered?
Mr. Bernard O'Shea:
From the Department's point of view, I completely understand the Deputy’s concern and agree with him that properties like that are vital to areas where there is no other accommodation. I am sure Fáilte Ireland colleagues would agree that we have large tracts of the country where there is no business or investment case for new hotels and, therefore, those smaller properties that provide accommodation and encourage people to stay in rural areas are very important. That is just from the tourism point of view. I will defer to Mr. Sheridan from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the planning issues.
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
That type of scenario will be looked at in the context of the revised planning guidelines and in terms of giving advice to planning authorities, the factors to be taken into consideration and the criteria to be applied in determining individual planning applications. I do not want to pre-empt the guidelines, which are not finalised yet, but we are cognisant of these types of operations and we will be factoring them into our further deliberations.
Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate and welcome that. While it is no fault of theirs, local authority planning officials will look at what is before them right now and will err on the side of caution when it comes to whether to grant planning permission for such cases. Ultimately, I fear that what would happen in such instances, and there are many more of them around the country, is that we have the opposite effect, where we end up with a significant black market when people cannot get planning permission but have a very high quality offering of accommodation and they need to look at alternative ways of filling those rooms just to try to get by and make a living. This is something that is going to have to be looked at sympathetically. Again, I make a clear difference between properties that were never on the long-term market and never will be on the long-term market because of proximity to the family home and all of those other complicating factors. I am referring to short-term accommodation.
There needs to be collaboration.
There needs to be joined-up thinking between the tourism and housing sides in that regard and with local government. What is the situation regarding properties, whether they are stand-alone or whatever type of property, that have been operating for more than seven years? Is there an exemption for somebody who has already been operating as a short-term rental for the past seven years or more and can prove it?
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
There is provision under the Planning and Development Act. This is the legislation and it is there for a good reason. Persons operating different types of businesses have to have specific types of planning permission. There is an obligation on them to adhere to the law. The reality is there are numbers of properties out there that do not have the planning permission and have been operating in excess of seven years. Because of the Statute of Limitations, local authorities cannot take enforcement action against them. However, they are still unauthorised. Our advice would always be that they should regularise their affairs by applying for the appropriate permission. The Deputy tabled a parliamentary question on this matter this week and, in our reply, we indicated that we do not propose to provide an exemption from the requirements for these types of properties. That would not be an appropriate response to the current situation.
Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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That is the sneak preview of the reply I will be getting this evening. I appreciate that.
What I would like to impart through this conversation is that there is no doubt that there is a huge element of displacement in the property market and the availability of long-term lets that are now more lucrative as short-term lets. Again, there is a taxation code issue there. That is from a different Department’s point of view. The Department of Finance will seriously have to wake up and look at why so many people are going to short-term letting. The reason is because the long-term market has become very difficult for people to operate in and it is more lucrative to go to short-term letting. I would be concerned that the only approach from the Government would be to use the stick, in terms of regulation, rather than having a carrot as well. If the intention is to provide more long-term accommodation, this legislation alone is not the only thing that will work. There must be more incentives for people to go long-term rather than trying to tighten things up for people who are engaged in short-term letting.
I emphasise that every part of this country cannot be treated the same way. Even different parts of my constituency of Kerry, for example, cannot all be treated the same way. There are different factors at play and there will have to be close co-operation between the tourism side and the local authorities in relation to various localities and how different applications are treated. For example, in the centre of Killarney or Dingle town, you cannot treat someone the same way as you do out in the middle of rural Glencar, rural Keel or some place such as that.
Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. We appreciate his questions.
Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I would like to welcome all of our guests. Similar to Deputy Griffin, I come from a rural constituency. We have equal challenges, be it in tourist towns, such as Westport, or on the likes of Achill Island. I might take the opportunity to congratulate all in Achill Island on "The Banshees of Inisherin" and its nomination for best picture. It is a huge vote of confidence for what Ireland can achieve on a global stage. I congratulate the community in Achill.
I refer to the Department’s engagement with the local authorities in anticipation of this legislation. Local authorities have a bulk of work to do in terms of being proactive in fulfilling their obligations. From speaking to county managers in recent weeks, they are certainly exhausted at this stage in terms of their commitments under the Housing for All plan and other areas. The extensive audit of all planning permission records for short-term tourism accommodation properties will be an important step in the process. Is there a commitment from the director of services or county managers in anticipation of this Bill being enacted? Have we a timeline as to what level of resources will be needed in each of the local authorities to do this work?
Mr. Terry Sheridan:
I am responsible for the resourcing of planning authorities as well. It is a constant issue raised by county managers. The numbers have decreased over the past decade or so, particularly since the economic downturn. We engaged with the County and City Management Association, CCMA, which undertook a survey of the numbers of staff at all the different grades in the planning authorities and also asked them to identify what extra resources they would require on a grade-by-grade basis to get back up to having the sufficient resources to do their jobs and perform their functions in the manner they would like. We just received a report from the CCMA on that and we will engage further with them. We would be generally supportive of the submission. There is a reality that if we are to achieve our objectives under the national development plan and enable development to be undertaken, the resources need to be there.
Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Has Mr. Sheridan engaged on the level of resources that will be needed per local authority in order to do this?
Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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That includes this extensive audit that is required from short-term lettings.
Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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These appointments take time through the public appointments system. It is not easy to hire new staff to do this. Will resources come from elsewhere? That is my question on a local authority that is already overburdened in relation to planning. My sense is that work still has to be done in anticipation of the register being put in place.
Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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On the upfront running costs of the register’s implementation, we are talking about a figure of more than €5 million. Is that correct?
Mr. Bernard O'Shea:
Through budgets 2022 and 2023, resources were allocated of the order of €1.5 million in the first budget and €2.5 million in budget 2023. A further million euro is anticipated for budget 2024. The figure includes setting up the register in Fáilte Ireland, the recruitment of staff, the establishment of the relevant IT system, and the upgrading of the registers in Fáilte Ireland so the IT system is appropriate.
Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Has the IT system been procured? How advanced is it at this stage?
Mr. Fergal O'Leary:
If the legislation is enacted in April, we will be ready to go. The IT system is being tested at the moment. In the coming weeks, we will be engaging with the technical solution to allow platforms to check what is on the register and whether property owners who are registering have a valid Fáilte Ireland registration number.
All processes and procedures will be in place both from a registration and a compliance point of view by April, should we get the go-ahead with the legislation.
Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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How many staff will manage the system, such as customer service and background staff, in order to keep it live?
Mr. Fergal O'Leary:
Fáilte Ireland was resourced for ten staff to set up the register and manage it. That is assisted by other internal staff in Fáilte Ireland, such as our IT, finance and legal people. We are also in the process of recruiting people to our helpline team to help anybody who may have a query on their registration.
Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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What role and powers will the authorised officers have?
Mr. Fergal O'Leary:
The authorised officers have similar power to other State body authorised officers. They will be able to conduct an investigation, collect information and prove, one way or the other, whether somebody has a valid Fáilte Ireland registration number or perhaps is advertising without proper approval. The powers that they have specifically are modelled on other State agency enforcement bodies with long track records of similar staff.
Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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My final question is on the initial figures of the properties that we are expecting to become available to long-term housing from the establishment of this register. There is a significant need in rural areas. Mr. Sheridan talked about an urban focus initially, but there is a housing need across all of the country. Certainly, Mayo is no different. I would ask that attention or focus would also be placed on rural areas and they be taken in a staged process.
Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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This has been an enlightening discussion. Hopefully, the concerns that are being expressed consistently across the committee about the potential to undermine tourism development rather than enhance are being taken on board. One aspect of that I would be genuinely concerned about is the instrument we use to determine where these planning guidelines will apply. I do not think rent pressure zones, RPZs, should be it, to be frank. I refer to towns, such as Kinvara in south Galway, for example. It is a huge tourism hub with a population of roughly 1,300 and it is an RPZ. I do not see how that compares with Temple Bar, to be frank. I know they have both been caught up in the RPZ net, but we should be a bit more nuanced and forensic in how exactly we determine where exactly these additional impositions would apply.
I have concerns, as Deputy Griffin said. My wife and I were biking in Wicklow last summer and we stayed in an Airbnb, which was essentially a shepherd’s hut in a guy’s backyard. We had a fantastic time and felt welcomed. It was a beautiful place. Would anyone want to live in a shepherd’s hut in a guy’s backyard? Absolutely not. Does he have planning permission for it? I doubt it very much. Perhaps I have entered into another maelstrom as a result of admitting that. However, having said all of that, we need find some way of facilitating that kind of thing, which is a huge part.
Senator Cassells mentioned greenways. We are looking now to develop a new greenway from Dublin to Galway city. Much of that greenway from the Athlone to Galway section will travel through villages that I know intimately in rural east Galway. They have the capacity to step up to the plate and provide high quality accommodation to those using those greenways. The last thing we need to put in front of them is barriers. That is all I am saying. I thank everyone for their time.
Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank our guests for being here today and I thank my colleagues. We will be coming back to this. As everyone has heard, there have been many concerns raised and I am sure they will be picked up on and addressed where possible.
I propose we now suspend our meeting to allow the secretariat to make arrangements for the next briefing, which is to happen at 3.30 p.m.