Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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2257. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the status of the work of the departmental working group on the regulation on short term letting, such as by a company (details supplied). [28932/17]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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2264. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of times the short term letting working group has met since its formation in January 2017. [28993/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2257 and 2264 together.

Action 18 of the Strategy for the Rental Sector requires the establishment of a Working Group to provide clarity in relation to the appropriate regulatory approach, from a planning perspective, for short-term tourism-related lettings to address unintended consequences of short-term lettings, including withdrawal of supply from the rental market.

The Working Group met on 14 June and had a constructive discussion on the subject of appropriate guidance to planning authorities in relation to short-term lettings for tourism purposes. The group consists of representatives from my Department, the Departments of Finance and of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation, An Bord Pleanála, Fáilte Ireland, the Residential Tenancies Board, and Dublin City Council.

The output of the Group will be a report on the appropriate regulatory approach for short-term tourism-related lettings and the identification of the necessary amendments to legislation required to effect such regulation.

In addition to establishing a working group to consider short-term lettings, my Department has been engaging with AirBnB over the last number of months to explore the possibilities for a collaborative agreement, under which practical steps to be put in place to ensure, where there are risks that short-term letting may result the removal of significant numbers of properties from the rental market, that planning requirements are respected. Discussions in this context are ongoing with a view to agreeing a Memorandum of Understanding in the coming weeks.  If successfully concluded, this approach is intended to form the basis for putting similar arrangements in place with other on-line platforms.