Dr. Rachel Slaymaker:

We published some work on short-term lets recently. The key thing is the difference across different areas. We see high levels of activity in the centre of Dublin and Galway, which are obviously areas with large rental sectors. A different type of policy response is probably needed in those areas where there is likely to be a high crossover of properties that move between the rental sector and the short-term let centre. The more challenging questions relate to the highest shares relative to rental numbers, such as in many tourist areas on the west coast. It is quite difficult in those areas. We do not see much of a relationship between the falling number of new-tenancy commencements in the rental sector, for instance, and the increase in short-term let numbers over time. One of the main reasons for that is that the big increases have come in those coastal areas but in many of those areas, there is a large volume of holiday homes. There is a high correlation between current short-term lets and previously recorded holiday homes. Therefore, in many of those areas, the accommodation will not have been in the rental sector in the first instance. Simply putting bans in place in those areas is not necessarily likely to have the desired effect. There is a lack of rental accommodation right across the country, but it is not necessarily likely to have the desired effect of increasing rental numbers in those areas, relative to urban areas. Having different responses for different areas is the key.