Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
General Scheme of the Short-Term Letting and Tourism Bill 2025: Discussion
2:00 am
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Good afternoon and you are all very welcome to our public meeting. Apologies have been received from Deputies Tony McCormack and John Clendennen. Before I proceed, I have a few housekeeping matters to go through. I wish to explain some limitations to parliamentary privilege and the practice of the House as regards references that witnesses make to other persons in their evidence. They are protected by absolute privilege in respect to the presentation they make to the committee. This means they have an absolute defence against any defamation action for anything they say at the meeting. However, they are expected not to abuse this privilege and it is my duty as Chair to ensure that this privilege is not abused. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue your remarks. It is imperative that they comply with any such direction.
I advise members of the constitutional requirements that members must be physically present within the confines of the Leinster House complex in order to participate in public meetings. I will not permit a member to participate where they are not adhering to this constitutional requirement and, therefore, a member who attempts to participate from outside the precincts will be asked to leave the meeting. In this regard, I would ask any member partaking via Microsoft Teams that prior to making their contribution to the meeting, they confirm they are on the grounds of the Leinster House complex.
Members and 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 or her real identifiable or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks, and again it is imperative that they comply with any such direction.
The item on today's agenda is pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the short-term lettings and tourism Bill. The Minister referred the revised general scheme of the Bill to the committee in accordance with Standing Orders. The committee met officials from the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and representatives of Fáilte Ireland on 15 October 2025. The committee has now decided to meet representatives of various stakeholders. I propose that we publish the opening statements and submissions provided by the witnesses on the committee's website. Is that agreed? Agreed.
In relation to speaking arrangements, I suggest to the committee that we invite our witnesses to speak for around five to ten minutes and that we allow members to ask questions or make comments for around seven minutes each. They may have a second round of questions if time is permitting. Members may be called in the order in which they appear on this week's speaking rota, which was circulated before the meeting. Is that agreed? Agreed.
I welcome the representatives here today. We are joined from Threshold by Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly, national advocacy manager, Mr. Zak Murtagh, legal officer, and Mr. Gareth Redmond, research and policy officer. From the Irish Host Community, we are joined by Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey, Ms Lorna Cahill and Ms Karla Piner. They are all most welcome to our committee today.
I now invite Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly, national advocacy manager of Threshold, to make her opening statement.
Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:
I thank the Chairperson and members of the committee for inviting us to speak here today. Threshold, as some members may know, is a national housing charity and provides advocacy and advice services to people experiencing difficulties in their private rental tenancies who are at risk of homelessness and are having difficulty finding a new home. We have been supporting renters and advocating for access to affordable, secure and good-quality housing since 1978 and each year we assist about 20,000 households. Since about 2018, Threshold has been raising concerns about the growing impact of short-term lettings on the availability of Ireland's housing stock. I want to stress that our interest is in the movement of long-term homes into the short-term letting sector, not homes or properties that have been operated as short-term holiday lets for many years. I know that is an area of concern for many people, but our concern is the long-term units that have moved over. Unfortunately, a significant number of those have moved over.
We welcome the introduction of a national short-term letting register and the accompanying regulatory requirements that are outlined in the general scheme. A comprehensive framework with clearly defined registration obligations is set out in the scheme and Threshold's observations and recommendations today aim to support the effective implementation of a short-term tourist letting register to mitigate the adverse effects that some short-term lettings have on the supply of long-term housing. The general scheme, together with the proposed national planning statement, which we are yet to see, is a vital intervention. It will address an imbalance in our housing system by helping to regulate short-term lettings and prioritising housing need where that is necessary. The establishment of a register is required by EU regulation. Not only will Ireland be adhering to its obligations in the EU with the implementation of this legislation, it will also activate one of the many policy levers available to make effective use of the housing stock, freeing it up for long-term use. This will bring relief to those in housing need and, in areas of acute housing pressure, aid in the reduction of homelessness.
Heads 12 to 15, inclusive, of the scheme provide for the establishment of a robust registration system, which includes annual registration and eligibility criteria. The smooth exchange of information between Fáilte Ireland and the local authorities will be essential in guaranteeing the effectiveness of this legislation. It will be necessary to put in place appropriate systems and adequate resources to support this work. Done effectively, this will prevent the unregulated abuse of homes as tourist accommodation.
We recognise that heads 19 and 30 introduce meaningful penalties and fixed payment notices with the aim of ensuring compliance and deterring rogue operators. Head 29 mandates the publication of the short-term letting registration numbers and provides for an accountable means of verifying such numbers. Ascertaining the exact number of short-term lets operating across Ireland has not been straightforward to date and Threshold welcomes this development.
Head 36 allows Fáilte Ireland to share data with the Central Statistics Office, CSO, for provisions of Eurostat, fulfilling our obligations in that regard. We also strongly believe that reliable data is the bedrock for evidence-based housing policy. While the national planning statement is yet to be published, in which the Government will give effect to its commitment to restrict planning permission for short-term lets in towns with populations greater than 10,000, it is equally critical for ensuring the effective use of Ireland's housing stock as the housing crisis endures. The proposed restrictions will protect housing supply in areas of housing demand. Such measures to restrict planning mirror best practice across the European Union. We already see such permanent caps in Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Greece. These measures are in alignment with a commitment of the Lisbon declaration to end homelessness by 2030, to which Ireland is a signatory.
Every property and long-term home diverted to short-term letting in an unplanned and unregulated fashion is a potential home lost and is no longer available to someone seeking a home of their own, whether that is to rent or to buy. The removal of homes from long-term use has had an impact on housing availability in cities, towns and communities across the country. Their return to long-term use may be the difference between homelessness and the stability of home for some. Regulating the sector will relieve housing pressure and contribute to the Government's overall plan to increase housing supply. Returning homes to long-term use will ease pressure on the private rental market and prevent more households from entering homelessness.
Threshold supports the passage of this proposed legislation. We believe the Bill, in tandem with the national planning statement, will strike an appropriate balance between sustaining tourism and safeguarding housing as a fundamental right.
We thank the committee members for their time and consideration. We look forward to their questions.
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
Go raibh maith ag an gCathaoirleach agus lucht an choiste as ucht an cuireadh labhairt anseo inniu.
I thank the Chair and the members of the joint committee for inviting us here today to speak to them about the impacts of the proposed short-term and tourist letting Bill. We have been invited here to tell our stories as hosts in the short-term rental sector. We are a sector that has many labels, from short-term rentals to short-term lets or self-catering accommodation. Regardless of our labels, the stories we tell here today represent thousands of hosts across the country.
We are tired. For years, we have been lambasted in the media as being the cause of the housing crisis. We have faced huge uncertainty as to whether we can continue earning our living. Our contributions to Irish tourism and the wider economy have been ignored. We have been drip-fed information about potential legislation and how it will affect us, with no clarity or certainty.
We are worried. We have no issue with registering our short-term lets. We understand the need to implement EU legislation and to collect data on short-term lets. However, this legislation, coupled with heavy planning burdens and potentially costly compliance measures, threaten the viability of genuine hosts and their ability to continue.
There are so many unanswered questions. The registration system includes ticking a box to say that a short-term rental is planning permission compliant. What kind of planning permission do we need? How much will it cost? How long will it take? What are the long-term implications of changing the use of property? Most are not exclusively used for short-term letting. The process is unclear, time-consuming and costly.
Local authorities apply inconsistent standards. No national guidelines or templates have been issued yet. Many short-term rentals, such as converted barns, granny flats or heritage properties, cannot realistically meet commercial planning criteria, despite being safe and well-maintained.
Furthermore, questions remain unanswered about building and fire regulations. Linking registration to modern building regulations is impractical for older properties and rural structures. Compliance upgrades for older listings, traditional cottages or yurts are often prohibitively expensive and unnecessary given existing safety measures. Some properties or spaces available for short-term letting were created purely for short-term letting. They are not suitable for any other purpose.
Thousands of hosts around the country are living with fear and uncertainty while these questions remain unanswered. We are grateful for the opportunity to speak to the committee today. It is the first time we have been given a voice to speak as stakeholders in this regulatory process. We hope that the members listen to our stories. Our stories are echoed in towns and villages across the country. We are asking the members of the committee here today to stand up for us. Take the fear and uncertainty away from us so we can continue to provide a vital service in the months and years to come.
Why is our service so vital? Short-term lettings have existed for decades in different forms. Hosting visitors is in our DNA, offering local knowledge and personal insight to ensure our guests' stay is the best it can be, and helping visitors make memories, and a lot of times that brings them back year after year. We are the original céad míle fáilte. We offer our homes and our histories to our visitors. We are also keeping large-scale national infrastructure projects progressing by hosting workers for the ESB and National Broadband Ireland and many more in places where there are no hotels or other options. We offer choices to people looking to relocate, work remotely, return home for a family wedding or a funeral and so much more. We are adaptable and flexible to our guests' needs.
Short-term rentals are a vital cog in a healthy housing market. We are also vital for tourism. Tourism is Ireland’s largest indigenous industry. Some 300,000 jobs are created by tourism with 200,000 jobs reliant on overseas visitors. In 2023, there were 6.5 million guest nights booked in Ireland through short-term rental platforms alone. In 2023, €1.7 billion was spent by visitors,
81% of it spent in shops, restaurants and cafés, on transport and on recreational and cultural activities.
Budget 2025 allocated €226 million to tourism services, including extending Fáilte Ireland’s international marketing campaigns. A total of 77,315 tourism beds have been contracted to the Irish Government for the 2025 season, potentially costing the tourism sector up €670 million annually in lost earnings. If our short-term rentals are eradicated, where will people stay?
This Department is responsible for enterprise, tourism and employment. Short-term letting hosts are enterprising people. We create jobs and support our local economies, from cafés and restaurants to local laundry services, hardware shops and tourist attractions. The employment we create is flexible and usually seasonal. A total of 70% of hosts are female. Employment roles within the sector and ancillary businesses are predominantly female driven – cleaning, launderettes, local shops and businesses. Short-term letting hosting allows women who are homemakers, raising children and carers to work. It is vital to people, particularly women, in areas where other employment opportunities are low or unreliable.
Tourism generated approximately 67% of the pre-Covid employment in regional and rural Ireland. The Wild Atlantic Way alone drives €3 billion in revenue per year, an increase of 58% in ten years. New regulation in this current form will devastate a whole industry and decimate many rural and regional communities that depend on tourism. We conducted our own research among the Irish hosting community in 2023. Eighty-nine per cent of people surveyed would not switch their property to long-term letting. Eighty per cent said that their local community depends on short-term lets to bring business to their area. We are here today to ask the committee members to think carefully about how this legislation is implemented. Think about your locality and your constituency. How will your towns and villages survive without having the option to stay in a short-term let? Think about the impact on tourism in your area. Think about the impact on enterprise in your area. Think about the impact on employment in your area. Think about our jobs. This is our livelihood.
I now invite Karna to share her story.
Ms Karla Piner:
I have been welcoming guests to Connell's House and Barn in the Boyne Valley, County Meath for almost ten years. In 2014, I acquired a protected structure dating back to 1690 with the specific intention to start a self-catering holiday cottage business. Connell's House and Barn was a landmark building on the Village Green in Duleek, consisting of a derelict thatched cottage and stone barn. I received planning permission in 2015 to restore and extend Connell's House and Barn.
I was told by my architect and a senior planner in Meath County Council that I did not require change of use planning permission since both properties were existing, they did not have more than four bedrooms and I did not intend on sleeping more than four guests in each bedroom. Therefore, a standard planning application to restore and extend was sufficient.
In June 2016, I welcomed my first guests to Connell's House and Barn and have since developed a successful hospitality business, with guests coming from all over the world to explore the Boyne Valley. However, on 1 July 2019, suddenly my business became non-compliant literally overnight when the first short-term rentals, STR, Bill was passed. Although my cottages are located in Duleek, County Meath, they fall into the local electoral area, LEA, of Drogheda, County Louth, which is a rent pressure zone, RPZ. I did not do anything wrong. I paid an architect to apply for planning permission and he followed the correct planning policy at the time. However, with the introduction of the STR Bill in 2019, my business was suddenly deemed illegal due to no fault of my own and I found myself in a situation where I had to apply for planning permission all over again.
In January 2020, I received three quotations in the region of €6,000 to €8,000 for a change of use planning application and a further €2,000 for a heritage impact study, which is required for all protected structures. I was also quoted an additional €2,000 for a fire certificate. However, by March 2020, my business was closed due to Covid, so I did not pursue my planning application. The last five years have been extremely difficult as my business is in limbo. I never know from one year to the next if I will still be in business. The information from the Government to date has been inconsistent and the goalposts are always moving in terms of the deadline for the legislation as well as the content within it. I was advised by three architects not to apply for change of use planning permission. I was told to wait for the enforcement letter to arrive and only then apply for planning permission. I recently spoke to a planner in Meath County Council and was told that it has received no communication or guidelines from the Government in relation to this legislation.
I am a furniture designer and worked in the furniture industry for almost 20 years. Like every other mother, I have done the 6 a.m. morning starts and ferried my children to and from childminders. Starting my own business and restoring a thatched cottage was a dream come true. It is hard physical work with long hours at times, but it has given me the flexibility to take my own children to and from school. It does not pay nearly as much as my previous job, but it has transformed our family life and provided me with a very rewarding job.
Almost 90% of my guests are American. Coming to Ireland is a holiday of a lifetime and staying in a traditional thatched cottage is exactly the experience they are looking for.
I went to my bank manager in 2014 with a business plan to start a self-catering holiday cottage business. I did not want to be a landlord. That business model could not be further from the hospitality sector. Since Brexit, I have been clinging on to my insurance policy, as insuring these buildings is almost impossible. Hence, many of them lie derelict across the country. If my business is shut down, I cannot just become a landlord as I cannot get the appropriate insurance. I cannot sell the building as no one can get a mortgage on a building without insurance. I have proved that restoring a thatched cottage is a viable business model. It provides a valuable contribution to the tourism sector and supports the local economy in County Meath.
I will hand over to Ms Cahill to tell her story.
Ms Lorna Cahill:
I am a wife and mother of four. I am currently living in Milltown Malbay, which is a small village of approximately 900 people. Before the birth of my third child I had been working as a social worker in the field of homelessness. I have a good insight and understanding of the issues surrounding the housing crisis. However, nine years ago, my husband and I were forced into making the decision to utilise an empty, unused granny flat attached to our home. We did not take this decision lightly. We took it out of sheer necessity. We are an average family, one of those families whose income is too high to qualify for any form of assistance or student grants, but not high enough to manage the costs of third-level education for our children. When our first two daughters entered college, one to train as a nurse and the other as a social worker, respectively, we hit a major financial wall. Our Airbnb income became a godsend. It allowed us to pay the college fees and student accommodation costs. It prevented us from having to force our daughters to drop out of college. We continue to rely on this income today. We have one son who is in art college, with another son going to college in three years. Such are the joys of having four children.
Our Airbnb income typically ranges from €10,000 to €15,000 in a good year. This is not a huge amount by any means, but it is life-changing for me and my family. I feel unfairly blamed and scapegoated for a housing crisis that I am not a part of creating. My specific activity does not negatively impact on it. My granny flat cannot be let on a long-term basis for several practical reasons. It is attached to our primary home. It is extremely small, lacking space for essential amenities such as a washing machine or wardrobes. There is no storage space whatsoever. It is a beautiful place in which to stay for a short summer break. However, it is not suitable for long-term winter living. This small unit has never been in the long-term housing market nor will it ever be.
We have welcomed more than 2,000 guests from every corner of the globe, many visiting local attractions or attending local weddings. Guests consistently rate the service and ultimately the kindness provided by my family as five stars. We give that céad míle fáilte welcome to all our guests. In Clare and indeed throughout the country, many hosts are in exactly the same financial position as I am. They are also utilising attached granny flats or garden units as short-term lets.
If we are forced to close our doors, due not to the registration but the upcoming planning restrictions, many, if not all, of these families will face significant financial hardship. Small towns and villages like Milltown Malbay, which is already struggling with pub and restaurant closures, risk becoming ghost towns not only out of season but also during the tourism season. This will further limit opportunities for young people in our areas. I urge recognition that not all short-term rentals are equal. For many average families, particularly in rural communities, they are a vital economic lifeline.
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I thank the witnesses for their presentation. I think everybody on the committee recognises that short-term letting is not the cause of the housing crisis. The housing crisis has been caused by a failure in Government housing policy. I want to make that clear. I also want to make clear that the problems facing us in terms of the proper scrutiny of this legislation are due to not having the national planning guidelines as yet. A vacuum has been created there. I ask that the Minister and the Department would come forward with that as quickly as possible.
My first question is to Threshold. Will the witnesses speak about their views on the issue of populations greater than 10,000 people? Will they comment on that figure and what that would mean? What is their opinion on that?
Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:
Threshold made a submission to the Department of housing earlier in the year regarding the proposal to limit planning in towns with populations of 10,000 or more. Our understanding from having attended a briefing session at the Department is that this is not intended to be a blanket ban on short-term lets in towns with populations of that size; rather, greater consideration will be given to balancing the housing needs of those areas and then that regular planning permission rules, which have existed for many years, will continue to be in place for towns of less than 10,000 people. Overall, we are supportive of that. We have identified a number of towns, for example Wicklow town, which has a population of about 12,000. However, according to existing data, there is one short-term let for every eight long-term rentals in Wicklow town. There is certainly an imbalance in that town. Dungarvan is another town of just over 10,000 where there is one short-term let for approximately every six long-term rentals in that local electoral area, LEA. The difficulty is that this data is based on LEAs. The research was done by the ESRI, whereas the restrictions in regard to the planning in towns will be based on the CSO population and size of towns. At the moment it is quite difficult to compare and understand the data across the board. Ballina is another town with just over 10,000. There is one short-term let for every 11 long-term rentals. Balance certainly needs to be struck in those towns. These are large towns with working populations. People commute from those towns elsewhere. There are possibly students still living at home in those towns and moving elsewhere. Workers come in to work in those towns. A balance certainly needs to be struck.
Overall we see the need for balance between tourism and housing, particularly in those areas that attract more tourists than others. In such places as Dublin city where there is a huge level of tourism, a greater imbalance exists between the offering of tourist accommodation and the offering of long-term housing. We hope that when the planning statement is published it will provide good, clear and balanced guidance to the local authorities and that the local authorities, using their own local knowledge and understanding of their areas, will apply that in a sensible manner.
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context
That is a key point about the local authorities knowing the areas best and being able to have flexibility to get the balance between the housing need and tourism needs in an area. Has Ms O'Reilly come across evidence suggesting the proliferation of short-term lets has directly resulted in evictions? Is there any concrete evidence of that? Has Threshold been contacted by renters who have experienced this?
Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:
Yes, we have had a small number so I could not say this is rife throughout the country. Renters have been in touch with us over the years to say they received an eviction notice that appears to be in line with the legislation. The landlords may say they want to sell or want it for their own use. The renters move out but when they go back, maybe to pick up post, and talk to an old neighbour, they find out there are now tourists living in that home.
Unfortunately, we do see it happen. There will always be rogue operators in any industry. Certainly, there was one in the media last year that seems to do it as a business model. Unfortunately, it has happened.
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context
It has happened, but Ms O'Reilly is saying it is not widespread.
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I will go to Irish Host Community. I very much take what the previous witness said about not all short-term limits being the same. I can see the difficulties, particularly around granny flats or where accommodation is linked to the primary residence. I will ask about building and fire safety regulations, the necessity to register those properties as short-term lets and compliance with building and fire safety regulations. Will that have an impact on hosts' ability to get insurance? Do they have any concerns about the removal of that requirement and what impact it might have?
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
Those are all very good questions. I do not have any answers for any of them because we are all operating in a total vacuum. We do not have guidelines, a planning statement or a structure that will give ourselves and our businesses certainty to work around and to work through. When we contact local authorities, we are told they do not know and to come back to them when they know. We would love to be able to have certainty. When we talk to hosts around the country, that is what they ask for. They are asking us those exact same questions and we do not have those answers but we need them to be able to continue to earn our living.
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context
The committee is constrained in the extent of the pre-legislative scrutiny we can do until we have those guidelines.
Irish Host Community suggested in its opening statement that 89% of the Irish hosting community would not switch their property to long-term letting as a result of the introduction of short-term letting regulations. What does it believe would then be done with those properties if it were the case it would no longer be possible for them to do short-term letting?
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
From talking to hosts around the country, most of them will not be used for other than maybe family or friends staying in them. They will not be offered on the long-term rental market. Many of them are not suitable; they are only suitable for short-term stays. They will otherwise be unused and will not offer anything to the locality or to the local economy.
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context
They will be left as vacant properties.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Unfortunately, but we will have a second round later if the Deputy hangs on with us.
Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I thank the witnesses for coming in and for their opening statements. As an organisation, will Irish Host Community give the committee an idea of the number of individuals, and it is largely individuals, it is representing and their geographic location?
Ms Lorna Cahill:
We formed host clubs four or five years ago. I represent hosts from counties Clare, Limerick and Tipperary. Susan and Lenice, who are sitting in the Gallery, look after hosts in the south east. We have host leaders around the country. In my group, there are around 500 hosts. In other groups, there could be a little less or a little more but, on the whole, we probably represent around 2,000 hosts around the country.
Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
That is great. I thank the hosts for the really good-quality product they provide. It is great, and people do come to Ireland for the céad míle fáilte, which is staying in an Irish home and meeting Irish people. Although I am a Dub, I am very familiar with beyond the Pale, the west and Munster. I am very conscious of rural towns, for example, Youghal, which gave up its hotel accommodation to respond to a humanitarian need and has been left with very little tourist accommodation as a consequence. If it was not for people like Irish Host Community and its members stepping in, Youghal as a tourist town would be really struggling. I genuinely do get that.
I am disappointed to hear how hosts are being responded to by local authorities and the Department. It is just not good enough; it really is not. The legislation is coming into effect next May. It will only apply to properties that are going to be a full property, so the vast majority of Irish Host Community members probably will not fall into that category but, either way, they should be getting better engagement. We need to write to the Minister about this concern to ask him to send an interim circular to each of the 31 local authorities informing them of what they need to be informing their members.
That being said, I am a Dub. There are over 16,000 people in emergency homeless accommodation today. Far too many of them are children and far too many of them are in my constituency. It is destroying lives and it is avoidable. Threshold made a point about the lack of accurate data. I did a desktop search on how many properties are available for short-term let in Dublin today. I got a couple of different numbers but, at a minimum, there are 10,000 properties and a maximum of over 19,000 properties. If we take it that 16,000 individuals are in emergency accommodation, they could be taken out of homeless accommodation overnight, if the regulations only applied to Dublin and not the rest of the country; not Lahinch, Milltown Malbay, Youghal, Killeagh or any of those rural towns.
I really welcome Threshold's support for this legislation. I will be doing everything I can to make sure that we pass it because we have to pass it. We have to pass it and implement it. We cannot continue with the situation in Dublin. Schools in my constituency cannot recruit teachers. There are nurses working in the Rotunda, the Mater and Temple Street hospitals, looking after the most vulnerable of our citizens, who are commuting two or three hours either way and doing ten- or 12-hour shifts. That is not sustainable. Young Garda recruits are coming out of Templemore and we are trying to recruit an extra 5,000 gardaí. I absolutely reject Sinn Féin's mantra that our housing crisis is a consequence of failed housing policy; its objections to housing are a greater contributor to that crisis. We need to get this legislation through and we need to make it work, so that where there is a real need and where there are real homes that can be used on a long-term basis and are suitable for it, such homes are made available. Where there are not and where there are alternatives, these should be supported too.
The committee has a real job to do in bridging that gap because legitimate questions are being asked by the hosts, which are not being answered by those who should be answering them. I have a question for the Threshold representatives on the numbers. Are they surprised? Is that their sense of it in Dublin, particularly?
Mr. Gareth Redmond:
I thank the Senator for her question. I will give an example within her own constituency. I believe the north inner city local electoral area, LEA, is in her constituency. I have a list of all the LEAs from the ESRI report and roughly 6% of properties in the north inner city LEAs are comprised of short-term lettings. Given the high number of private properties within that area, the legislation would be quite transformational just for that area alone.
In terms of surprise at the numbers, as I said, there are different fluctuations of numbers because there is no publicly available data. The best we can do is data scraping, but what is quite clear is the number of short-term lets in certain areas, particularly in Dublin, vastly outweighs the number of those in the long-term market. That is why we think this legislation could be transformational, if that answers the Deputy's question.
Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
It does indeed. I thank Mr. Redmond.
Mr. Zak Murtagh:
I will come in to address the legislative focal point on all of this. An impression may have been created by other witnesses before the committee that this is about thatched cottages, granny flats and all of that. The Senator asked for Threshold's impression of what is really going on.
We have always looked at everything in the round, the whole country, but we cannot ignore what is being done in other EU member states. We cannot ignore the fact that the platforms that are operating are dealing with major cities and major cities are pushing back, and for good reason because in terms of supply of long-term housing solutions, different countries have different problems in their own national housing crises. We cannot ignore the fact, as has been alluded to, that it is big business in cities and it is a serious contributing factor to what is going on around homelessness in these kinds of cities. I am referencing the likes of Lisbon, Barcelona and cities like that. In the cities we have in Ireland, it is an impression that has landed firmly with us and that is where we see the legislation really being of great benefit.
Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I get a sense that Threshold and the alliance are not against each other at all. In some ways we are dealing with two different things because in the major urban centres, as Mr. Murtagh mentioned, it is not about cottages and holiday homes. It is about scammers trying to avoid obligations by making an easier profit rather than following regulations. My first question is for Threshold and then I will come to the Irish Host Community. Given that rent pressure zones were brought in approximately ten years ago, there was an article recently in one of the papers that mentioned that just 66 property owners had sought permission from Dublin City Council but 1,000 properties are being investigated. If this wider legislation comes in, what faith does Threshold have that it will actually be enforced?
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.
Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Does Ms O'Reilly think it will actually get to court cases? Is there enough width in the system to actually prosecute if people are not compliant?
Mr. Zak Murtagh:
I think the court system has its own difficulties at present around holding rogue operators to account. I am not going to go into great detail as to why that is. To answer the Deputy's question, we do feel that what we are seeing in the Department's approach is to give teeth to enforcement. In terms of a practical issue we feel is really of pivotal importance, we need cohesion between the local authorities. I know this point has already been raised by Senator Fitzpatrick, but we really need to see local authorities stepping up with a common approach on this. That, in turn, will make enforcement effective and it will go after hopefully a small number of rouge operators, but effectively. We do have confidence the proposed legislation as it stands is certainly a step in the right direction on that.
Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
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?
Ms Karla Piner:
I might answer that. It was stated that prior to 2019, you always needed a change of use planning permission. You actually did not. In County Meath, you did not, because I spoke to a senior planner in County Meath. If the property existed and did not have more than four bedrooms and you did not intend on sleeping more than four people in each of those bedrooms, you did not need change of use. Therefore, I applied to extend and restore my property. I did everything by the book but then I opened by doors in 2016, and in July 2019, suddenly, I was on the wrong side of the fence. I did everything right and I have gone back to square one, having to apply again. I would like to clarify, because this question was asked of the Department of tourism at the last committee meeting, that a change of use planning application is a brand new planning application. It is not the case that-----
Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
They made it sound very touchy feely, that it is just a case of-----
Ms Karla Piner:
It is absolutely not. Again, I have gone back to the planners in County Meath. I am fortunate I can actually speak to the planners in County Meath because in some local authorities you cannot speak to a planner. That information the Department of tourism gave was inaccurate. You are back to square one, getting in an environmental engineer, an architect and a surveyor. It is a big, costly application and we are all being lumped into the one basket here. That is what is unfair about the system. As I mentioned in my opening statement, I have bookings from Americans - they book at least a year in advance - and I have bookings from now until next October. On 20 May 2026, what happens to those bookings? Those people will not come and have their holidays because I will be gone from the platforms. I cannot advertise.
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
I will also just make a couple of points on a few things that were raised there. We are here today, we are volunteers, just to tell our stories. We are speaking on behalf of other genuine hosts we meet around the country. There are rogue operators in any industry but we are not here to talk about them. I am not an expert on Dublin housing policy but legislation that has been in place over the years has attempted to tackle various issues along the way. I do not think any of us here on this side are qualified to answer those kinds of questions because it is not our job. Our job is to tell committee members that what we do to earn our living is so important. Bad cases can sometimes make bad law and when you are trying to legislate for the worst-case scenario, the unforeseen consequences across a huge sector of our tourism industry could be radically impacted.
One thing that was mentioned was having a common approach for local authorities. That, in effect, is part of the issue. Each local authority needs to be able to look at their own area and apply their own standards and criteria because we all know constituencies across the country vary from one side to the other. I am from Cork, which is a massive county with huge differences from one side to the other so you cannot have a common approach. Yes, you need a common guideline or framework to work upon but it needs to be individual and people need to be able to make their case in front of them.
George Lawlor (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I thank the witnesses for their excellent presentations. Ms Cronin-Falvey hit the nail on the head when she suggested each local authority should have the ability to tackle this in their own individual way. Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about Dublin, which is an area that needs particular attention, given the volume of people. That is true for most major cities around the world. They have difficulties other areas of the country are not be encountering and on a much bigger scale.
Much of the legislation introduced has killed imaginative forms of housing. I give the example of Wexford town's Main Street. We used to have people living over shops and I presume it is the same in other towns across the country. That is pretty much gone now because of fire and safety regulations. Nobody lives above the main street in Wexford any more so I can take the point made regarding fire safety and regulations that have been foisted upon people since 2019 and how they present terrific difficulties.
Senator Fitzpatrick also talked about the between 10,000 and 19,000 buildings available as we speak. Do we have any information as to how many of those would be individuals like the witnesses or is this an institutionalised business where people are making large sums of money from these short-term lets? A city is going to attract people who will also seek that. Does the witnesses have any information on the numbers?
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
There are many different ways people scrape and find their information and data. We do not track those figures because we are concentrated on doing our day-to-day job, which is looking after our guests. However, there are a couple of things we have noticed when the numbers are spoken about. You will see quotations and numbers of entire properties. They find this information from various different websites but we would say that is an advertising term. An entire property, in many cases, does not equate to an entire home. Yes, you might see a top-line figure but that is not necessarily representative of what is happening on the ground and what is available to the guest.
George Lawlor (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context
If you are talking about enforcement, and I was on a local authority for 20 years in the past, it is one of the weak elements of local authorities. Ms Piner was deemed to be operating illegally since the 2019 legislation. I was coming in here saying the 10,000 figure in towns needs to be looked at but actually, the 2019 legislation is probably causing as many problems for individuals and people as any legislation that would be brought before us now.
Ms Karla Piner:
I cannot tick that box to say I have planning permission. I cannot apply for planning permission because the national planning statement has not been published. Planning permission takes a long time so I do not know how the authorities seem to think we are going to have change of use and planning permission in place by 20 May. It is just not going to happen. There are tens of thousands of people who have to apply. It is not physically possible.
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
We had a chat with Fáilte Ireland almost three years ago - in February 2023 - where it talked to us about the registration system when it was all new. The organisation specifically told us on that call that as part of the registration system, there would be an option to tick a box to say you are using a clarification period of six months to get your house in order, for want of a better term. This would also give time for local authorities to have their guidelines in place and would give us all time to allow the tourism part to continue while we fall in line with this new legislation.
There has been a vacuum of information since then and in the latest conversations, that proposal of a six-month clarification period seems to have disappeared. We have had the floating of different ideas and proposals such as, for example, these towns of 10,000 or more, but again that seems to have disappeared from the more recent conversations. At various different tourism conferences lately, that seems to no longer be on the table. We are operating in a total vacuum.
Ms Lorna Cahill:
I will add to that. At a recent conference, the issue of whether it would be change of use was raised by Fáilte Ireland which then said, in fact, it is commercial planning we should be applying for and not change of use. We were then compared with the case of using my home and my granny flat as a hairdresser; it would be exactly the same thing. Therefore, I must apply for commercial planning. That was the first time we have heard the term "commercial planning". That then brought up all the other issues around rates, etc. As Ms Cronin-Falvey said, we have informed our host groups for the past two years that they would have this six-month period. That disappeared two or three weeks ago.
Also, when we go on to register, it is a five-minute process. We go in, we register our PPS number, name, address - blah blah blah - and then we have the question, "Are you in compliance?" It is a self-declaration. It is not evidential so we do not have to put in the proof but what are we in compliance with? We do not know. Are we in compliance with planning? Now, there is mention of fire regulations and building regulations so, no. I can tell you now there will be very few hosts who will be in compliance. My little granny flat, which will not be compliant, is now gone.
George Lawlor (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context
There is huge confusion in the whole area of planning. We had witnesses at a previous meeting tell us the data the local authority had on record when the house was first built could be used for the change of use but that was totally inaccurate. It was a fresh planning application. We need to get the message out to local authorities that the confusion being created is having a huge impact on people trying to get their house in order as they are being requested. That is an area we definitely need to home in on.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Deputy Lawlor and I will be interested as well in taking up accommodation for the Willie Clancy festival. It might be a fact-finding mission.
Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I have already turned him down.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
My guest rating with Deputy Crowe is unfortunately quite poor.
Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
We need to make sure there is accommodation for the Chair.
I am unusual here in that I wear two hats. A decade ago, I had a property in Dublin and rented it out to Dublin City Council, which said it did not need it any more. I then went to the Peter McVerry Trust and it did not want it so I short-term let it. I knew the legislation was coming and so I said, "I am going to jail if I do short-term lets and that is the end of that." However, I also wear another hat where I have homeless accommodation and transitional housing. We have about 200 people with the approved housing body I set up in accommodation and housing. I hear what Senator Fitzpatrick was saying about how vital it is to address the housing issues.
I feel we have not built enough houses and unfortunately, the witnesses are going to bear the brunt of that. I have heard and met up with Threshold, which argues that every home diverted to short-term letting is a potential home lost. You can see the unregulated in homes in Dublin that are short-term lets are contributing to a big crisis. I run a homeless cafe called The Lighthouse and we are meeting up to 500 people a day so I see both sides of it. On the other side of that, I see hosts like Ms Cahill who says she is not making a lot of money and yet, her granny flat was something that contributed to supporting her kids, etc. Much of those homes - the units the hosts here are representing - will never be houses. They are usually heritage structure barns, granny flats or tiny spaces.
We are talking about the same market but it does not seem to be the same market. I know that in Dublin city centre, that is a key issue. For the witnesses here, it seems to be something different. Can they quantify short-term lets that are barns, granny flats, etc.? Are there are any data to show such lets will never meet full-time homes?
Ms Lorna Cahill:
We cannot quantify. We have surveyed our own hosts. I do not know how many entered the survey but it would not have been all 2,000. Of the hosts who entered the survey, 89% said their property would never qualify as a full-time home.
I can give examples. I look after two other houses. They are not mine. They are two other Airbnbs that are five minutes from my home. I tell everyone I manage them. I clean and look after the houses and meet and greet the guests. The owner of one of those homes is 85 years of age and lives in Birmingham. He left Miltown Malbay when he was 14, which was 61 years ago, but this is still his home house. He comes back to that house five or six times a year, usually for between three and five weeks at a time. That house has to be there and available to him. Letting it for the short term enables me to earn a couple of bob from it but it also means that our locality, all of the area, benefits. It is also gives him the money to maintain that house while it is still his primary home in Ireland.
The other house I look after belongs to a family who are living in Lisbon at the moment. When their son finishes secondary school, they will return to Ireland. That is their primary home in Ireland. They probably stay in that house for three months of the year, and for four months it is let as a short-term let.
Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
They will still be able to rent out that home for 90 days. Is that correct?
Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Under the new legislation, will they be allowed to rent their whole home for 90 days?
Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
They are just over the threshold. I ask about the data regarding the units that are never going to come in. It seems like the witnesses are on different sides and are talking about a different market even though it seems to be the same market. I am confused.
Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:
Our concern has always been with homes that were rented or sold. Perhaps someone had been living in them long term and they then became short-term lets. That is the market with which we are concerned. We can understand the situations raised by Ms Cahill. That man moved away from Miltown Malbay. Once he left, that property was probably never available to anyone else. That is not necessarily a problem.
Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
We cannot distinguish such properties on a register.
Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
There is no exemption for those, even though they are not suitable.
Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Two weeks ago, the Cathaoirleach mentioned Youghal. I wonder about areas that are rich in tourism. I am thinking of rural towns, perhaps on the Wild Atlantic Way. If the regulation reduces supply in those areas, what alternative accommodation will we be looking at? Will the Government invest and provide State grants for alternative accommodation? This is the enterprise and tourism committee. If the Government does not, will it negatively impact our tourism market, which has already been impacted?
Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:
Data has been produced through Eurostat with information, which, if I recall correctly, was provided by the booking platforms themselves, who are the only ones who have the accurate data. I think that less than 10% of bed-night stays by tourists come from the short-term letting market.
Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
How come we have such big numbers in Dublin, the 16,000 short-term lets, if only 10% of tourists use them?
Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
It will not be fine under the new legislation because they will be-----
Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:
It will depend. In towns of fewer than 10,000, the standard planning applications will apply. It is not like there is a blanket ban. In towns of over 10,000, there still is not a blanket ban but it may be more difficult to get the planning permission if there is a housing need competing with it.
Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I mentioned that, ten years ago, I made sure that I was not anywhere near this because I thought this was going to blow up and people would be going to jail. Ten years later, I do not see the enforcement that was forecast. How will the new legislation enforce what we are talking about?
Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:
The difference with this legislation is that there is going to be an onus on the platforms themselves. The host must have planning and must make that declaration, as has been said. Fáilte Ireland will cross-check that with the local authorities. If the planning is not in place, the registration number will be defunct or cancelled. The platforms cannot advertise a property that does not have a registration number in place. A platform that does advertise such a property will be subject to a fine. A couple of different mechanisms will be in place in that regard. It will not just come down to the local authority or Fáilte Ireland to pursue those types of things. That is what we understand from what is in the heads of the Bill and what has been communicated to us by the Department of tourism.
Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
It will be up to local authorities to enforce, so they need to be resourced to do that.
Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Mr. Murtagh mentioned rogue operators earlier. Is he confident that this is the gig to catch those rogue operators?
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Unfortunately, gentlemen, we have gone over the time limit by two minutes. We might come back in the second round, if that is okay with the Senator.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I apologise. I call Deputy Dolan.
Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
A massive thank you to both Threshold and the representatives of the letting community for being here. It is really important to recognise that not every property is built the same, not every advertisement is the same and not every unit is the same. Some people are short-term letting rooms in their house, operating bed and breakfast-style accommodation or operating a granny flat. In the area I represent in east Galway, there is a significant amount of rural Airbnb properties where really creative solutions can be found. They provide an incredible experience and ultimately ensure that people who come to visit the west coast of Ireland have a place they can remember. Many of them do not have planning permission, whether they are log cabins, pods or whatever else. It is working, providing a service, operating successfully for the individual and is not causing harm to anyone.
The issue is that we also have towns, where there are terraced houses and apartments. Multiple apartments in a block are being let out as short-term letting apartments and they are in the vicinity, within at least a couple of kilometres or a few hundred metres, of a hotel. The reality is that no apartment, terraced home or detached home in an estate should be let out in its entirety on a short-term letting platform. That was not its intended purpose when it was built. We need to respect the fact that there are units there which are not fit for short-term letting and should be designated for long-term housing. That is why these regulations are important. They are going to provide structure and framework. My big fear is around the whole planning aspect. I believe that when local authorities get their hands on the registration numbers and the details of where all these units are located, all of a sudden somebody who has been operating a successful Airbnb property for years is going to have to go through an uncertain planning process which could ultimately lead to them losing a source of income. I would like to hear from Ms Cahill, Ms Cronin-Falvey and Ms Piner about their dealings to date with the local authorities around planning.
Ms Lorna Cahill:
I have not had any dealings. I have avoided it. I am sticking my head in the sand and hoping that if I ignore the planning authorities, they will ignore me. If I contact them, they will confirm what we all know, that I am operating illegally. I am and I am not. This is my issue. Everything is grey. I never lived in an rent pressure zone, RPZ, until a few months ago when the whole country became an RPZ. I live in an area with a population of 10,000 or less. That was on the table and then it was not. I do not know. I contacted someone in planning on an informal basis to ask what I should do. I said that May was approaching and asked whether I apply now. I was told that there were no guidelines, that there were guidelines that were put in place in 2019, but the pre-legislative scrutiny was still ongoing and there was nothing concrete so we would have to wait and see.
There is the other, human side to this. I have just paid my Revenue bills for this season. I do not have the money to pay for a planning application and if I apply for planning, I will be going down a rabbit hole because the authority will then say that my septic tank does not meet the 2012 or 2014 regulations and reference building and fire regulations because the building is 30-odd years old. It is a small granny flat attached to my house. I am therefore terrified. That is my answer. I have not made contact.
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
In preparation to meet a group of hosts in Cork a few weeks ago, I rang 13 different engineers and architects in Cork and proposed the hypothetical situation to them of applying for planning permission to operate this as a short-term let. They said they would not touch it, were not interested, could not tell me or would not be able to put in an application because there is no framework to put it in to a local authority or apply.
Ms Karla Piner:
I concur with that. I made a few calls. I have been proactive since 2019 and the quotations I mentioned in my opening statement were prices from 2020, five years ago. I rang a few architects last week and, like with Ms Cronin-Falvey, they were not interested if it is not worth more than €200,000. They are not interested in applications of this nature that are time-consuming and tedious. Therefore, even to get someone to apply by next May will be impossible. I applied for the correct planning permission in 2014 and 2015. I did everything by the book and then on 1 July 2019, when we were all up to our eyes at the busiest time of year, I did nothing. In January 2020 in the low season, I picked up the phone, started to have some meetings and make some calls. Then two and a half months later, we were all closed down due to Covid-19. Two years later we reopened and everything was up in the air. We did not know where we stood. Hence, I was not going to spend €10,000 to €15,000 on an application when we do not know where we stand.
Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I am conscious of time and I would like to hear from Threshold. I made some remarks about terraced homes and apartments. I know the number of people who come through Threshold's door. I see it in Galway with constituents I am trying to support. The first port of call for anyone facing homelessness is to go to Threshold and have the notice to quit validated. I appreciate the service Threshold offers. It is wrong that a terraced home or apartment would be leased out in its entirety - I understand if people want to let rooms - continuously turning over tourists. That was not its intended purpose. Can I have Ms O'Reilly's thoughts on that?
Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:
That is exactly our concern. Where the building's intended purpose was for it to be a long-term home, that is where our focus is. There has definitely been a difficulty in identifying those properties because of the absence of accurate data. I hope with the register and information from planning, that gap will be filled. We have seen a particular issue arise in Galway, which Mr. Murtagh might make mention of because it is a student town or city with high levels of tourism.
Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I would appreciate that.
Mr. Zak Murtagh:
It is interesting that the examples of east Galway and terraced homes have been raised. I do not claim to be an expert on Galway but I have spent some time there. In the Terryland area of the city, there would have traditionally been a stock of affordable housing, but what we are seeing is lots of different styles of properties in Galway being used for lots of different reasons. There is a slip and slide of properties that could be homes into being short-term lets and maybe back again. It is a valid concern. We feel that may be contributing to a knock-on effect in east Galway. Mr. Redmond can speak more about statistics we may have to hand on that. However, if Galway city centre is not regulated correctly around short-term lets, there will be a bigger problem for Galway as a regional whole.
Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I have gone over time. I appreciate the Cathaoirleach's leeway.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
We have just been joined by my colleague Deputy Cathal Crowe. Before we move to a second round, is it agreed to let Deputy Crowe ask a few questions? Agreed.
I welcome him.
Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I thank the Chair and other committee members. I am not a member of the this committee, but the topic is close to my heart. I have been to some of its regional meetings in Munster. I read the opening statements.
Most of my questions are for the short-term letting representatives, but I hugely admire the work of Threshold. My office engages with it regularly. I thank Threshold for all the advocacy work it does for people in homelessness and facing homelessness. It is a pity that sometimes in the media, the two entities present are pitched against one another because Threshold does hugely valuable work, yet short-term letting is also valuable. I do not see short-term letting as the fix to all this.
My position on this has morphed over the years. Three or four years ago, a political colleague showed me a website insideairbnb.com, on which there is a map of Ireland and it is possible to zoom into counties, cities, towns and localities. Very quickly the user will see an incredible dataset of properties available tonight for short-term letting. The figures suggest that we could instantly solve homelessness by enticing or forcing all these properties over to long-term letting. I fully bought into that. I said we had to legislate for this and make it happen. I was then contacted, as TDs often are, by lots of people who provide short-term lets. They said they were counted in those figures but that I should come back the road to see what they had in west Clare. I saw everything from beautiful retro caravans to tents, wooden huts, shepherds' huts, granny flats and - I did not travel to it, but we all saw - that incredible Boeing plane in Enniscrone, County Sligo. Therefore, I noticed the figure did not tally with what we had all been thinking and I adopted a diametrically opposed position that this would not work and we should abandon these plans. Then, approximately nine or ten months ago, there was a refining of the rules, that they would apply to towns with a population of 10,000 or more. We got a bit of detail, but the detail does not seem to have evolved any more.
Like Deputy Dolan, I would like to think that a city or town centre apartment block or dwelling would be available for families, but I have a very different view on the property in the west, down some peninsula or rural road, that is providing a tourism commodity and is available throughout the year. It is regrettable that in all that journey, the detail that was needed has not been clarified to any great extent. It is bad that we still do not have planning detail. The registry is definitely needed because only when we have it, will we know the yurt from the house and the cottage from the other thing.
I do not know whether the committee will produce a report on this body of work. However, vernacular buildings, like the old Irish cottages that for decades were tumbling into the ground with thatched roofs falling in, were becoming relics and ghosts of the past. I can see all over the countryside, as I read in Ms Piner's opening statement - I must look up her property because it sounds fabulous - that people are bringing back these very old vernacular structures. They are beautiful and fabulous. They are lime rendered, but in 2025 - forgive me if I have misrepresented Ms Piner's property - most of them are not capable of housing a family with modern needs over a 12-month period with the harshness winter brings. The view we, in government, have been developing is overly simplistic.
If all that has been proposed so far were to come to pass, would Ms. Piner, Ms Cahill and Ms Cronin-Falvey still find a way through the planning system to operate short-term rental or would they just pull it and let their short-term rental sit idle at the side of their houses?
Ms Karla Piner:
On 20 May next year, it will just go off a cliff.
As I mentioned earlier, I, along with loads of other hosts, have multiple bookings up until next October but I will not be appearing on any of the third party platforms. Where do I go? My door was closed. All those holidays will be cancelled. It is extremely concerning. It seems to be one-size-fits-all legislation and it is just not going to work. The register should work in theory, but in reality it will not because people are not going to register. I would like to register but I cannot, so I will not be on there. Lots of other people will not be either.
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
I have a couple of examples of those. I manage holiday homes for people who own them. One, for example, is a beautiful house inherited by the owners. They have renovated and improved it. They use it themselves two to three months per year. When they are not using it, it is made available to guests. They will not register. They will not apply to change the use of their house because it is not changing. It is the house they use for their holidays and make available to guests when they are not using it. They will not apply for planning permission to change use. It is not going to happen.
Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Planning is a grey area, to use Ms Cahill's words. Several things need to happen here. Planning needs to be clarified and the register needs to be established. Some bits may need to be abandoned entirely and never looked at again and some need to progress. If Ms Cahill was to sequence all this, which needs to happen first for her as a short-term letting owner? Would she want the planning clarified or the register set up first?
Ms Lorna Cahill:
We have said all along we really welcome the register. We would love to see the register put in place for two years. If it was there, it would give Threshold and everybody else here an accurate view. I will give an example. My granny flat is listed as an entire unit. For Threshold or anyone else looking on a platform tonight, they think it is a house which was available and has now been taken off the housing market. It is not. I list it as an entire unit to entice guests who want an entire unit. They do not want to stay in my house. People have said in the past that 12,000 houses would immediately become available but if we had the register it would become very evident that 12,000 properties would not become available the day the register opens. It has been said that this is overly simplistic. It needs to go into more depth on types of properties, whether they are available and ownership of the properties. I gave two examples of houses where owners live abroad but they are still their primary homes in Ireland. Does that count as a primary home in Ireland? We do not know. We should have the register first and then look at the planning required. We always thought we had the six months but that is now gone. Register first, and then planning 12 or 24 months down the road. That is just my opinion.
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
The very nature of short-term rental is that it is transient and flexible. People dip in and out. There is no set data. What is available this month will change next month and next year. Its flexibility is why people embrace it as guests and as property owners. It is a good option for people. Why would you leave a house to sit idle for six months? You might as well put it up there and then go back to whatever it was you were planning on doing with it in the first place.
Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Would Ms Cronin-Falvey abandon the legislation or lead off with some elements while abandoning others?
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
We know we have to comply with EU legislation and bring in the registration. Over a couple of years, we could create a much clearer picture. In the first round of this draft legislation, there was a footnote that said Fáilte Ireland does not understand the sector. Use the register, bring in the data and let us learn more about the sector. Then we can create a specific national planning framework or statements around that.
Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I think that makes good sense. I thank the witnesses for their time.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
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?
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
When we speak to people, they tell us their stories. They tell us how they created their short-term lets and the amount of money, time and effort they put into it. They talk about the guests they host, the experience they offer, the money they put in and the money their guests put into the local economy. We are not statisticians or legislators; we just talk to people and listen to their stories. We are saying today that the committee needs to hear these stories because these are people's jobs and livelihoods. I do not have figures off the top of my head.
I go back to my previous point that short-term rental is by its nature flexible. There will never be a set of data to say exactly how many short-term lets are in the country, because tomorrow somebody might change their mind, close the night or block a calendar. Without a simple, straightforward registration process, the Cathaoirleach will not have the numbers he is looking for.
Ms Karla Piner:
We cannot underestimate the sheer value. After the last committee meeting, I wrote to all committee members about my experience of staying in Youghal last May. Why did I go to Youghal? Because Ballymaloe was having a food festival. I could not get accommodation locally, so I ended up half an hour away. The fallout of that was three people for three nights who spent just under €2,000 on food, drink, festival tickets and so on. That is a huge amount of money for three people over one weekend in Youghal. My property has an excellent restaurant next door. I can send 15 guests in there on a Monday night. Then they go to the pub and then to the farm café for their breakfast. It is a huge amount of money in the economy. We should not underestimate that.
Ms Lorna Cahill:
To answer the Cathaoirleach's question anecdotally, I imagine - again, this is just my opinion - that a massive percentage of hosts operate illegally and do not have the required planning. People with structured short-term letting accommodation, town houses that offer a number of rooms, almost like mini motels or hotels, holiday villages, structured holiday homes that have been operating for years - they will all have what is required. I am talking about people like myself, women who are small-time operators. We have one property, like I do, and operate it without planning.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
The circular economy effect was mentioned, where people support local businesses and go into locations like Youghal or east Cork or other parts of the country where the tourist economy is hugely important. I sat at a meeting of the Youghal socioeconomic development group last week. We had Fáilte Ireland, Cork County Council, members of the local authority and people that had been employed by the local authority to work specifically on tourism. This was highlighted to me as a huge concern.
I am Cathaoirleach of the committee and we have Threshold here with us as well.
Did the representatives from Threshold get any response to or feedback on any of the points that have been raised? I respect that they are bringing a different opinion here and we want to make sure that everyone is heard.
Mr. Gareth Redmond:
In April 2025, the ESRI published a report, Profiling Short-term Let Usage Across Ireland. I am not going to go into the details of it but will skip forward to the policy recommendations. These included establishing a national short-term let register, with mandatory registration for all STL properties; linking STL data with the private rental sector and housing market data; tailoring local policies by allowing local authorities to set STL limits based on housing pressures; improving data integration by combining platform data, tenancy data and planning records; and ongoing monitoring and regular updating of the STL data to track trends. One of the key references there is to planning records, which is something we have spent a lot of time talking about despite it being the competency of another Department. It is essential for data purposes. One of our recommendations would be for the Cathaoirleach to write to his counterpart in the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage and to the Minister, requesting involvement in the pre-legislative scrutiny of short-term letting legislation in the context of the national planning statement. The committee could invite all of the stakeholders here to discuss these issues.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I appreciate that suggestion. There is definitely scope for us to do that, if the committee is agreeable. We will now have our second round of questions, beginning with Deputy Gogarty.
Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I have read back over previous discussions when the principal officer, Ms Niamh Maguire, appeared before this committee. She was asked about the change of use application and she said that her understanding was that if somebody has existing planning permission granted for a property, and there are existing records on file such as architect's drawings, those records still stand for change of use applications. However, she was later asked by Deputy Dolan about the definition of a "change of use". Basically, she said that a change of use would be commercial, as the witnesses mentioned, which was news to some of us. It is still not specified. Let us take Ms Cahill's example of the 85-year-olds who always come back on holidays. If they do not let a house out, especially during the winter, it is going to go mouldy and is not going to be pristine. One can see the logic of doing it but should they have to then say that they are a commercial business? Ms Cronin-Falvey gave the example of a property that might be used by family members at different times. The owners could block it off for three months and then put it back out again. It is earning an income but it is not a business in the sense of being commercial and year round. Ms Piner's situation is different. She experienced the vagaries of the planning process before these rules came in but it is a forewarning of what is coming for everyone else.
I thank Mr. Redmond for mentioning it because I was about to suggest that either the Minister for housing or the principal officer of the Department should come before this committee because they have put the cart before the horse here. How can Fáilte Ireland and the tourism sector in general make any recommendations regarding registration when the registration is totally dependent on planning, which has not been decided yet? It is bureaucracy gone mad. It is trying to smash a nut with a sledgehammer and it is putting the cart before the horse. We are talking around issues here. We have had several meetings on this but we do not know exactly what we are talking about. Have we an opportunity to change the planning? Have the witnesses anything to add to that?
Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Is it affecting bookings for next year?
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
It is affecting whether we even open for bookings next year. Am I going to be able to earn money doing this next year? Will the café down the road earn money from me doing this next year? On top of that is something that has not been factored in by anybody. I was in a meeting a couple of weeks ago with my fellow Cork host, Ciarán, who is in the Public Gallery today. We met between 30 and 40 hosts from all across Cork. Over half of those in the room had no idea what we were talking about when we started talking about this legislation. They had no idea what a register was and did not even understand the term short-term letting. They do not see themselves in this category. Whatever about getting clarity, the Government has a huge campaign ahead of it to educate people out there to ensure that it is easy for them to comply and easy for them to provide what is a vital tourism service.
Ms Lorna Cahill:
Can we please stop pushing the narrative that the register is so simple, so easy and will cost a nominal amount? This is what we have been told consistently but there is no mention of the planning. Fáilte Ireland is telling us that planning has nothing to do with it and is the responsibility of the Department of housing but we have no contact with that Department. I have bookings for the Ryder Cup in 2027 and the Irish Open in September 2026 and I am hoping that I get bookings for EuroPride, which is coming to Clare in 2028. I am hoping that I get bookings for those events but will I be cancelling them all and will I be left with no income after 20 May? I do not know but I need to know.
Ms Karla Piner:
It is very concerning. We have the Department of housing, on the one hand, saying that it wants our houses and then we have the Department of tourism, which should be supporting our sector. Fáilte Ireland is in the middle, saying that it has just been told to put the register together and that it has nothing to do with it. No one seems to be joining the dots in terms of the reality of what is going to happen in May.
Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Ms Piner has outlined that if this all comes into play as expected next May, she will be done but what are the ramifications if she continues? What threats does she face?
Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
Just to clarify that point, is Ms Piner currently using platforms to get guests?
Ms Karla Piner:
Yes, multiple platforms. We all use them. Fáilte Ireland has a compliance department, which is new, and it is going to share information with local authorities. We are assuming the local authorities will have the resources to put into corroborating the information they get from Fáilte Ireland. Legislation was introduced in 2019 to try to get more long-term homes back into market but that has not really happened. It did not have the impact it was meant to have. Here we are, six years later and we are in a worse position. The legislation that is going to be introduced is effectively pretty much the same, but with a registration system added to it. That is going to be a blunt instrument because people are either in or they are out by 20 May.
Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
The registration system, from what I have heard, is meant to be simple. The issue is the ramifications of the registration system. Is that the fear?
Ms Sarah Cronin-Falvey:
The registration system has been tied to one tick-the-box question, namely, is this property planning permission compliant? We could tick that box in all good faith but we do not know what we are supposed be compliant with. The Deputy asked what the ramifications of continuing would be. Approximately 6.5 million guest nights were booked in Ireland through short-term rental platforms alone in 2023. That is his answer, right there. Where will these people stay? Where will the overseas visitors who come to Ireland stay if we are not in operation? We are just the same as thousands of hosts across the country.
Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I appreciate that there is a significant market that is functioning and serving a need but as I said earlier, and as Deputy Cathal Crowe also said, it causes conflict in places like Galway city and Dublin city where there are apartments, terraced houses and different types of homes that were built for the purpose of being a home. Ms Cahill's granny flat is attached to her private residence so it would be wrong to force her to make that available on the private rental market. There are nuances here that have yet to be worked out but I really appreciate all of the contributions of the witnesses here today.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context
I thank our witnesses for being here today. I also recognise a number of interested parties here in the Gallery. There are representatives from the self-catering federation and other interested stakeholders who are following this legislation closely. I recognise it is the second round of discussions we have had in the committee. We are conscious of it. The Minister will be coming before the committee quite soon and I am sure we might get an opportunity to ask a couple of a questions in the next few weeks. I assure the witnesses of that and thank them very much.