Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister of State Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Peter Burke. He is here every day. I call Senator Garvey on the first Commencement matter.

Róisín Garvey (Green Party)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, for coming to the Chamber on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, whose remit is housing specifically. We all know it is an issue and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is working on it, and possibly the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, as well. I wanted to invite the Minister to the House to ask him what we can do about ensuring that all Airbnbs are registered and have applied for change of use if they have gone from a long-term living property to Airbnb short-term rental, as is the statutory requirement.I draw the Minister of State's attention to figures I gleaned from Airbnb and Daft.ie.I put in 16 October and looked up Ennistymon, one of the closest towns to where I live. There were 627 places for Airbnb but in all of County Clare, there were only 36 places to rent.

To be clear, Airbnb has a very important part to play in the tourism sector but at the same time, we need to find a balance between people having places to live and tourists having places to stay. What we saw happening in County Clare was that businesses could not stay open because they could not get the staff. They could not get the staff because the staff had no place to live. Airbnb, as a concept, works. I see best practice in other jurisdictions and even in Dublin, where we have seen some restrictions brought in - at the very least, to make sure they are all legal. That balances the books a bit more.

If, in many cases, second and third homes are being used as short-term rentals for two or three nights all year-round - there were 627 cases in County Clare - then we are doing a disservice to people on the housing list who are looking for a place to live. We have a huge housing crisis. We have a lot to do around building new houses, but we all know there are thousands of houses that could be homes if they were not Airbnbs.

As I said, Airbnb, as a concept, works, especially if it is a room in your house. I know the company itself is not obliged to ensure any house it is advertising is legally an Airbnb. Maybe people do not know, but if you are advertising your house as an Airbnb, you must have done so by getting permission from county council. What does the Minister of State hope to do about this? I have raised the issue for the last few years, since I became a Senator. It is a huge issue where I live and I am sure we are not unique. If you do not have any Airbnb restrictions, then you see a serious problem with a lack of houses. I would like to see that dealt with.

On rent pressure zones, RPZs, I have engaged with the director of services for housing, with many housing bodies and with my colleagues in the Green Party on this. It is not a made up issue that I think we will resolve overnight. The current algorithm the Government is using for RPZs is not fit for purpose. For example, County Clare has no RPZs and yet we have a huge housing issue. The two things are the rent pressure zones and the algorithm not being fit for purpose. It might work in very high-density places, such as areas of Dublin, but if you take the whole of County Clare and put it into the same algorithm, it does not represent what is happening on the ground in towns like Ennis and Ennistymon, which might be very popular places and face huge demand. Without the rent pressure zones being spread out across the county, we are failing to turn many houses into homes.

On Airbnbs, the company itself and the list of Airbnbs online, we need to get someone to look at that and to enforce the rules most people are obeying. Some people are doing it by the book. If we can get that done, maybe some people might think that they should not be doing Airbnb and that perhaps they should be renting it out as a home, to give people a home.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Senator. The Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, has four minutes to reply.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Acting Chairperson and thank Senator Garvey for raising this very important Commencement matter.

To provide some background, legislative reforms to regulate the short-term letting sector through the planning code in areas designated as RPZs were introduced under the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (No. 2) Regulations 2019, which came into effect on 1 July 2019. The aim of the legislation was to return much-needed accommodation being used for short-term letting purposes in the designated RPZs to the long-term rental market, thereby increasing supply in the long-term rental market and helping to stabilise rents in those areas. Given that short-term letting accommodation is technically tourism-related accommodation and the regulation of such accommodation is more appropriate to the tourism sector, the Government's housing plan, Housing for All, contains a specific action, Action 20.4, to "Develop new regulatory controls requiring short-term and holiday lets to register with Fáilte Ireland with a view to ensuring that houses are used to best effect in areas of housing need". This will take the regulation of short-term letting accommodation out of the planning code.The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and Fáilte Ireland have lead responsibility for developing and delivering the new legislation in this regard with input from my Department, given its involvement in framing the pre-existing short-term letting legislation. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has engaged extensively with the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to progress this action. A number of meetings have been held between officials of both Departments and with Fáilte Ireland and further engagement is expected to take place.

As an interim measure, and pending the establishment of the Fáilte Ireland registration system, which is due to come into operation in 2023, provision was included in the recently enacted Planning and Development, Maritime and Valuation (Amendment) Act 2022 to update and strengthen the existing provisions on short-term letting operated through the planning code. This also makes them more enforceable. This will be supplemented by regulations before they can come into effect.

These new regulatory controls on the short-term letting sector will be in place for an initial period of six months, during which time it is envisaged the Department with responsibility for tourism and Fáilte Ireland will work towards the establishment of the registration system as was committed to in Housing for All.

This measure essentially provides for an initial six month period which may be extended for a further six months subject to positive resolutions by both Houses of the Oireachtas. Non-principal private residences in rent pressure zones shall not be advertised or accept bookings on online platforms or other media for short-term letting purposes without the necessary planning permission for such use in place in respect of the property concerned unless the property concerned is otherwise exempted.

My Department is engaging with the relevant stakeholder groups on the detailed operational arrangements that will apply to the proposed measure to be incorporated in the required supplementary regulations. It is intended to conclude the consultation process shortly. My Department is also engaging with the European Commission on the legislation under the notification requirements of the directive on technical regulations and rules on information society services, TRIS. That engagement is ongoing.

The rent predictability measure was introduced in 2016 to measure rent increases in those parts of the country where rents are highest and rising fastest. Measures were introduced in July 2021 to extend the operation of these rent pressure zones, RPZs, until the end of 2024. Legislation is also in place to ensure that rent reviews in RPZs can only take place on an annual basis and until 2025 rent increases outside of RPZs can occur no more frequently than bi-annually. This provides rent certainty for tenants outside of RPZs for a minimum of two years at a time. From 11 December 2021, a cap of 2% per annum pro rata will apply on rent increases in RPZs where the inflation rate is higher than that. In all cases, section 19(1) of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2022, RTA, prohibits the setting of a rent that exceeds market rent.

Section 24(a) of the RTA provide that the Housing Agency in consultation with housing authorities may make a proposal to the Minister that an area should be considered an RPZ. Following receipt of such a proposal, the Minister requests the director of the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, to conduct an assessment of the area to establish whether or not it meets the criteria for designation and to report back to him if it should be included as an RPZ.

Róisín Garvey (Green Party)
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There is some very positive news there. What is the timeframe? When does the Fáilte Ireland six months start? When is that kicking off? It is very good news.

I understand the rent caps in rent pressure zones. That is brilliant. When can that be spread out to other places? A landlord in Ennistymon is increasing rent from €600 to €1,100 and has given the tenants two months' notice. It is not only an issue in rent pressure zones. Can the Minister clarify the last point he made? It sounds like we could make a case for Clare or areas of Clare to become an RPZ. Is that what he is saying? I will follow up on that.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Department has increased enforcement controls in the recent legislation. That is currently with the European Commission, so we can finalise the regulations to underpin that legislation. The Housing Agency adjudicates on rent pressure zones so anyone can make a case for an area to be included in the RPZs but it must meet the strict criteria laid down under the Act. It can go through that process.

What was the Senator's third point?

Róisín Garvey (Green Party)
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If the algorithm of the RPZ is not changed, my area will not fit into the criteria.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The increases must be measured on a consistent basis, month on month.

Róisín Garvey (Green Party)
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When does the six month period start?

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The six months will start once the engagement with the Commission is finished. That relates to the current legislation and obviously negotiations are concluding with the Minister with responsibility for tourism in relation to Fáilte Ireland because that is the game-changer-----

Róisín Garvey (Green Party)
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Yes, that is brilliant.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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-----for having the robust controls which will ensure a balance in the long-term residential rental market.