Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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24. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will examine the means to simplify the process for registration of persons properties for short-term letting, which are a vital part of the rural economy. [50765/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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On 15 April, Government approved the General Scheme for the Short Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill. This Bill when enacted will provide the statutory basis for the introduction of a register for all Short Term Lettings (STLs) in Ireland, to be implemented and managed by Fáilte Ireland from 20 May 2026, ensuring compliance with the new EU Short Term Rental Regulation, which was adopted on 14 April 2024.

The new STL register will be available online and will provide a full picture of the stock of registered tourist accommodation across the state and has been broadly welcomed by the tourism sector.

From 20 May 2026, all STL hosts offering accommodation for periods up to and including 21 nights will be obliged to register with Fáilte Ireland via a digital system and confirm their compliance with planning requirements. The registration process will take just 5 minutes to complete and will result in a unique registration number being issued for each STL unit registered. This number must be displayed when listing the STL unit on any online platforms.

Fáilte Ireland has estimated that, based on data for August 2025 which has been screen scraped from publicly available STL listings across four major booking platforms, there are c.35,400 STL properties in the State currently being advertised online and up to 65% of these properties are advertised as “entire” houses and apartments. The research points to a 26.9% increase from an estimated 27,900 units listed in August 2022. It is important, in such a fast-growing area, that we have oversight and data on where this growth is happening.

The new Housing policy, proposed by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne T.D., and approved by Government on 15 April is to generally preclude new planning permissions for STLs in cities and towns with a Census population in excess of 10,000 persons and to enable local authorities have discretion to develop policies for other locations having regard to relevant local criteria to be set out in planning guidance.

Minister Browne will set out the planning guidance for STLs in a National Planning Statement on short term letting and will progress any necessary legislative changes to implement the new Planning requirements. The National Planning Statement will be published in advance of the final enactment of the STLT Bill to provide clarity for the tourism sector.

Government is mindful of concerns in both rural and major tourism regions where Short Term Lettings provide much needed accommodation for visitors. These concerns are being addressed through continued engagement with all stakeholders.