Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

21. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of short-term lets in operation in Galway city and county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36734/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The proposed Short Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill will provide the statutory basis for the establishment of a register for short term lets in Ireland and for the implementation of the EU Short Term Rental (STR) Regulation which was adopted by the EU on 11 April 2024. The register will facilitate the production of quality data on short term letting accommodation in each region in the country. However, in the current absence of such a register, it is not possible to provide accurate data on the quantum of such accommodation.

I intend to bring the revised Short Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill General Scheme to Government shortly for approval and to then proceed with drafting of the Bill.

In the absence of accurate data, which will only become available on the introduction of the register, Fáilte Ireland has conducted a data-scraping exercise on information available online regarding short term letting accommodation in Ireland. This provides an estimate of the current number of short term letting properties in Ireland and it draws on data from the four largest online booking platforms operating in Ireland. This exercise suggests, as a current best estimate, that there are currently in the region of 3,600 short term letting properties in the county of Galway. The data-scraping exercise provides data on a county basis and does not differentiate between urban and rural properties. It is important to note that this data cannot be regarded as definitive and that the short term letting register to be established under the proposed STLT Bill will ultimately help to address this information deficit.