Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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299. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if information is available to the public relating to Land Registry applications; if the original documents are available for a third party; the consent required by a third party; if these documents fall under freedom of information; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10252/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Tailte Éireann is an independent Government agency under the aegis of my Department. Tailte Éireann provide a property registration system, property valuation service, and national mapping and surveying infrastructure for the State. Under Section 8(6) of the Tailte Éireann Act 2022, Tailte Éireann is independent in the performance of its functions.

Registration of all applications on the Land Register is affected in accordance with the relevant legislation including the Tailte Éireann Act 2022, the Registration of Title Act 1964, the Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006, Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 and in accordance with Land Registration Rules 2012 - 2021.

Pending registration applications remain in the control of the lodging party while pending and Tailte Éireann is obliged to comply with the data protection principles as set out in the Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018, and Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation.

When an application for registration is completed, the legal effect of the documents lodged is registered on the folio. Since the Irish land register is a public record, any person may inspect the folios and maps, on payment of the prescribed fees.

The title shown on the folio is guaranteed by the State which is bound to indemnify any person who suffers loss through a mistake made by the Land Registry. A purchaser therefore can accept the folio as evidence of title without having to read the relevant deeds.

Once the registration on the folio is completed, the title documents (application form, deeds and relevant correspondence) are subsequently filed in Tailte Éireann archives in a file known as an Instrument. Tailte Éireann is only permitted to provide information from an Instrument to any person on receipt of a valid application pursuant to Rule 159 of the Land Registration Rules 2012 to 2021.

An application pursuant to Rule 159 could be made by the Registered Owner, or based on entitlement, in Form 96 of the Land Registration Rules. Further details relating to Rule 159 and inspection of Instruments is available on Tailte Éireann’s website, www.tailte.ie/en/registration/legal-practices/practice-directions/inspection-of-documents/.

Section 41(1) (a) of the FOI Act 2014 states that a head shall refuse to grant an FOI request “if the disclosure of the record concerned is prohibited by law of the European Union or any enactment (other than a provision specified in column (3) of part 1 or 2 of schedule 3 of an enactment specified in that schedule) or “the non-disclosure of the record is authorised by any such enactment ...” (Section 41(1)(b)).

As “enactment” includes a statutory instrument, the Land Registration Rules 2012 are an “enactment” for the purposes of Section 41(1). Therefore, access to the instruments held by Tailte Éireann would be refused under Section 41(1)(a) and (b) of the FOI Act.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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300. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 345 of 11 February 2025, if work has begun on the planning guidelines for the short-term letting sector to supplement the introduction of the revised and re-titled Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill General Scheme; details of further public or stakeholder consultations on these guidelines ahead of its publication; the current status and estimated publication date of the aforementioned planning guidelines and legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10284/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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It is important that there is a clear view, both at national level and local authority level, as to what the policy approach to determining planning applications for Short Term Lets should be. Any policy approach should consider numerous complex factors, such as existing planning legislation, the long-term housing need in the local authority area, the location of the proposed Short-Term Let and balancing housing need with the potential impact on tourism and economic development.

In addition, the potential consequential impact of any guidelines on resources within the Planning Sector needs to be carefully considered in the context of the current capacity challenges in that Sector. On 15 October 2024, my Department published a Ministerial Action Plan on Planning Resources to respond to capacity challenges in the planning sector. This Action Plan provides a detailed road map to increase the pool of planning and related expertise needed to ensure a planning system fit for future needs. It sets out 14 high-level actions that provide a coordinated pathway to ensure a sustainable pipeline of planning and related expertise into the future, addressing the areas of education, recruitment and retention, as well as measures to encourage greater innovation and efficiency. Funding was secured in Budget 2025 to support delivery of the Action Plan.

My Department will be in a position to develop Planning Guidelines for the Short-Term Letting sector to supplement and support the introduction of the Short Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill, subject to clarifying an approach to the balance of need between housing and short-term tourist accommodation, which may be considered on a geographic basis, and will complement such policy to provide clarity in respect of planning requirements regarding short-term letting properties.