Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to mention the lack of regulation enforced by local authorities in respect of Airbnb. I have done a body of work on the number of Airbnb properties that are available. I discovered that there are ten times the number of Airbnb properties available on the Airbnb website in comparison with that the number available on daft.ie. That is an issue we must start talking about. We brought forward legislation in 2019 which gave local authorities power to licence Airbnbs but that has not happened. Local authorities must step into the arena.

The town of Kinsale is located in my part of the world. This morning there were 85 Airbnb properties available in Kinsale but there were only five properties listed on daft.ieas being available to rent. It is no wonder that there is a rent crisis in Kinsale because all of the properties are listed on the Airbnb website. As of this morning, no property in Kinsale has gone through the process of getting a licence from the local authority. We need to ensure, therefore, that national legislation that we pass here in the Parliament is enforced locally by local authorities. There is no point in us going through regulations and legislation if local authorities do not put their shoulder to the wheel and deliver. Accommodation is a major issue. At the moment, if one were lucky enough to rent a property in Kinsale then one would have to pay anything up to €2,000 for it because there are no properties available. We must ensure that local government steps up to the mark and delivers on the legislation that has been put in place to ensure that the rental market can work appropriately. It is absolutely crazy to have ten times more properties listed on the Airbnb website than on daft.ie. Unless we do something about this matter, the rental crisis will continue until local authorities implement the legislation that is there.