Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Boyd Barrett. Staggering profits are being made from short-term letting in the midst of the greatest housing crisis in the history of the State. According to the online publication, Tripe + Drisheen, citing the AirDNA website, a five bedroom house on the south side of Cork city yielded €71,400 income through Airbnb last year. According to the same sources, a two bedroom house on the south side of Cork city yielded an Airbnb income last year of €47,500. Long-term rental rates in Cork city are scandalously high and are pricing ordinary people out of the market. These short-term letting rates are a multiple of the long-term rates and are making their owners a fortune at the ultimate expense of people trying to find a place for themselves and get a roof over their heads, many of whom are ending up homeless. Little wonder that the ratio of short-term letting to long-term leases on entire houses, not just rooms, in Cork city is 17:1. The ratio for Cobh and Youghal in County Cork is 55:1. The vast majority of short-term lettings in Cork city and county are taking place in defiance of the planning laws.

I support the Bill because it makes that an offence and gives the power to the Minister with responsibility for housing to make regulations permitting the issuing of spot fines to persons, estate agents and online platforms. These spot fines should be sufficiently hefty to act as a strong and powerful deterrent. If and when this Bill is passed, extra resources must also be provided to local authorities to allow them to follow up and enforce the new powers.

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