Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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904.To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the progress to regulate short-term letting; and if she has engaged with the European Commission on the matter. [31266/24]

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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944.To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for an update on the regulation of short-term lets. [32806/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 904 and 944 together.

The proposed Short Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill will provide the statutory basis for the establishment of a register for Short Term Lets (STLs) in Ireland and for the implementation of the new EU Short Term Rental (STR) Regulation which was adopted by the EU on 11 April 2024.

The Government's housing policy, “Housing for All”, has specifically committed, in the context of making more efficient use of existing housing stock, to developing regulatory controls with a view to ensuring that homes are used to best effect in areas of housing need. The STL register will provide a framework within which planning authorities can identify those STL properties that are operating without the appropriate planning permission. Planning authorities will then be better able to adjudicate, in the context of local housing need, how applications for change of use planning permission will be dealt with.

The original general scheme of the Short Term Tourist Letting Bill was approved by Government and published in December 2022. Following a legally required notification of the general scheme to the European Commission a standstill period was imposed by the Commission until December 2023. The general scheme has now been revised to align it to the EU STR Regulation. To ensure full preparedness for the implementation of the new regulatory process, Fáilte Ireland is working to ensure the new STL registration system and administrative procedures are fully aligned with the STR Regulation.

It is intended to bring the STLT general scheme to Government at the earliest opportunity for approval and publication and to then proceed with accelerated drafting of the Bill.

In parallel to the drafting of the STLT Bill, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) has committed to providing updated planning guidance to local authorities in tandem with the establishment of the STL register and associated regulations.

Officials from my department and DHLGH are in regular engagement on this matter. It is intended that a draft of the planning guidelines will be published simultaneously with the publication of the STLT Bill.a