Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State.

What we are doing must protect communities and ensure homes are not lost from the long-term rental market and enable a genuine collaborative economy and home-sharing. The latest daft.iereport on rental availability illustrates the need for the Government to progress regulation of Airbnb and other short-term letting platforms. As the figures show, one in two properties is only available to tourists. There were 1,103 entire homes booked for more than 80 nights in all of Dublin during 2016. It is probably more of a city issue. It affects rural areas now but it is definitely affecting cities. It is important that we support this.

Fianna Fáil supports the 90-night limit as a fair and proportionate response to the short-term lettings issue. This will not discourage home-sharing but it will prevent the loss of homes from long-term renting into professional short-term lettings. The Bill makes provision for a six-week limit and we will seek to amend this on Committee Stage. It is important that clear data-sharing protocols are established to ensure homeowners are not allowed to bypass the system. Local authorities will need to be effectively resourced to empower them to identify rogue lettings and penalise them. On 23 October, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government issued a circular stating that planning permissions for short-term lettings should be refused if there is a short-term let of over 60 days. The guidelines were unclear about who had to apply for the permission and on what grounds it would be granted or refused. It also outlines the refusal of permission for stays of more than five nights or more than four people, which would rule out families for week-long stays. The Minister of State needs to clarify that for me. This has been met by bewilderment and confusion by stakeholders. Why has 60 nights been selected? What is the basis for restricting it to four people? The guidance is contradictory and confusing and risks damaging the sector without properly regulating it. As a result, it is necessary that a new, clear and easy-to-understand regulatory framework - with recommendations from the task force - be put in place.

We should not be afraid of regulation. Our international neighbours have introduced regulation and it has worked. In New York, the city's rental law bans apartments and buildings with three or more units from being rented out for fewer than 30 days. Barcelona owners have to list their apartments with the city's tourism register, obtain a licence and be responsible for collecting the daily 65 cent tourist tax. London has imposed a 90-night limit per year on short-term lettings. We, as legislators, cannot be gazing idly from the outside in. As this sector takes over, we need to make it work for our wider economy and society. As we have a housing crisis and homelessness, this will play a role and that is crucial. From talking to the Minister at the committee meeting earlier, it is obvious that the crisis continues to obtain. There is lack of supply of accommodation and apartments. There are many issues.With all of us working together with proper legislation it is to be hoped that we will try to solve this problem as best we can in the short term.