Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)

One of the issues the Minister did not respond to at the closing of his Second Stage speech was raised by his Government colleague Deputy Carrigy and I. One of the consequences of extending the rent pressure zones to areas currently not designated is that, theoretically speaking, Eoghan Murphy's 2019 short-term letting regulations would apply. Obviously, the Government has decided to take a different course, which is Peter Burke's short-term letting register, and the Minister, Deputy Browne, and his officials will produce new planning guidelines to go along with those. One assumes that will make a distinction between areas that are currently designated rent pressure zones, where there is a very high demand for rental properties and the need to take a very tough line on unregulated short-term letting, and a more flexible approach that will allow local authorities to have more discretion to ensure a balance between the tourism economy and long-term housing need. Given the fact that there are a lot of people engaged in the provision of tourism products in those rural countryside, high-tourism areas, who will be looking at this, I invite the Minister to use his response to clarify whether it is his intention to seek the application of Eoghan Murphy's 2019 short-term letting regulations to the areas that are coming in to the RPZs. We know that is not going to work anyway because those regulations are unenforceable. If that is not the intention, which I presume is the case because the Minister is working with his colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Deputy Burke, some clarification here or communicated to the local authorities would be reassuring for people. We all accept that there has to be regulation of short-term letting in high-demand urban areas as well as rural countryside areas, but what I have outlined is one of the consequences of the rushed nature of this legislation. Therefore, I am not inviting the Minister to continue arguing with me about a three-year rent freeze, as we do not agree on that, but it would be valuable for him to clarify what his view is of the application of the 2019 short-term letting regulations on these new areas the day after this comes into effect until the short-term letting register and consequent planning guidance is issued by his Department.

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