Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Broin for bringing forward this Bill. I agree with Deputy Michael Healy-Rae that Deputy Ó Broin consistently brings forward legislation that at least sparks a debate and is very much trying to contribute positively towards this very important issue. For this reason, the Government will not be opposing this Bill.

I might try to just address some of the points raised by Members before I sum up. I refer to that last point raised by Deputies Healy-Rae. What the Government is proposing around the legislation and working in collaboration with Fáilte Ireland on will benefit the rural tourism sector as well as dealing with that challenge around short-term lets and properties that should be in the long-term rental sector and trying to tease that out. That is very important.

I have a friend who has a fantastic rural tourism product down in Ballycullen at the foothills of Slievenamon. He is very much largely reliant on short-term lets and their platforms for his business. By far the bulk of his trade is coming from there. It is supporting the types of projects such as Croc an Óir, which has converted farmhouse and brings income into rural tourism economies. That is what the Government is going to do and to benefit as well as address this issue of the enforcement around short-term lettings. It is very much a collaboration between the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and our Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

I wish to address a number of the other points raised by Deputy Connolly, in particular the issue around the market leading. Since the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, has taken office, he has consistently led, through Housing for All, on the delivery of social and affordable housing and empowering and resourcing local authorities and approved housing bodies to deliver on social, affordable and cost rental housing. No other Government has given that level of commitment hitherto. There has been a marked change and it can be seen on the ground with the opening of many new housing projects throughout the country.

Like Deputy Connolly, I want to take issue with the point raised by Deputy Verona Murphy on the Office of the Planning Regulator, OPR. The OPR is very well up to speed on planning law and it was a disgraceful comment. The regulator is there to perform a very important function in terms of planning in this country, and those comments were out of order.

Deputy Boyd Barrett mentioned the issue of the large urban centres. However, as we have heard all Deputies contributing this evening, this is an issue that is affecting regional towns such as Sligo, Drogheda and Wexford and throughout the country. It is not just the larger urban centres. It is something that we are committed to dealing with.

On the points raised by Deputy Cian O'Callaghan around the responsibility of Fáilte Ireland, as I said, it is a collaboration between both Departments. While the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media has the lead responsibility, it is working with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in engaging on the progression of our own legislation. While Fáilte Ireland will enforce the registration of its system with the matters pertaining to planning permission, enforcement will remain the responsibility of local authorities. This is an important way forward. We have looked at other jurisdictions, particularly France, where there is a similar precedent for this type of approach. It is important to say it is a system we are basing on those of other jurisdictions. We are not relinquishing responsibility, especially around the rental market, cost rental supply and rent to buy. The Government is keenly committed to being still very much in control of how we manage these issues.

Deputy Nash raised the point that it is not the same as proactively supporting legislation. We are supporting this, and I am making positive comments in that regard. The Deputy also asked about resourcing local authorities for the implementation of existing regulations that are still in place until the new legislation comes into effect and will be part of it. The resources we have put in place, an additional €2.5 million in this year's budget, are significant. Notwithstanding that there have been challenges around under-resourcing for local authorities' enforcement, the issue of enforcement around gaining access to properties is adding to the challenges that have existed to date. We are trying to achieve the separation of genuine short-term lets for the tourism sector from speculative short-term letting where there are rent pressure zones.

While supporting Deputy Ó Broin's Bill, the Government is determined to pursue legislation that will go a long way towards trying to address these problems. We must consistently adapt and be in a position to respond continually as we see whether legislation is working in the way we hoped it would initially. I thank Deputy Ó Broin for bringing this Bill forward and for the useful debate we have had in the House on it this evening.

In the current housing supply shortage situation, which has been further exacerbated by the recent influx of citizens fleeing the war in Ukraine, increasing the supply of housing across all sectors of the housing market, be it private housing, social and affordable housing, long-term private rental housing as well as addressing vacancy, is one of the key challenges and priorities faced by Government. Every possible mechanism to increase housing supply is being examined on an ongoing basis, as is evidenced by the comprehensive suite of actions contained in Housing for All.

The long-term private rental market is a key element of the overall housing market and has been negatively impacted by a significant number of properties that have moved from the traditional long-term rental market in recent years to short-term tourism-related market letting. The 2019 legislation introduced under the planning code was an innovative measure intended to reverse this trend and influence the return of much-needed accommodation being used for short-term letting purposes in the designated rent pressure zones to the long-term private rental market, thereby increasing supply in that market and helping to stabilise rents. However, there have been some issues with the practical implementation and enforcement of the legislation, which has inhibited the achievement of its underlying objectives. The proposals contained in Deputy Ó Broin's Bill relate to the placing of restrictions on the advertising of short-term letting properties in rent pressure zones without the necessary planning permission or exemption, and the application of on-the-spot fines where the existing short-term letting provisions are not being complied with, have some merit and are constructive. We welcome constructive solutions from the Opposition. It is on this basis the Government has decided not to oppose this Private Members' Bill.

However, as was outlined by the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, earlier, and signalled in Housing for All, it is now proposed to transfer the regulation of the short-term letting sector from the planning code to its more natural home, the tourism sector, with a new registration system to be established by Fáilte Ireland and operational from early 2023. It is intended that these new arrangements will be more effective, streamlined and easier to enforce than the current arrangements, delivering on the objective of increasing housing supply in the private rental market. To this end, necessary provisions to underpin the new registration system are being progressed and the Government looks forward to the publication of the new legislative proposals in the coming months with a view to their subsequent urgent enactment.

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