Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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8. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if the proposed changes to the Registration of Short-Term Tourist Letting Bill 2022 will impact traditional bed and breakfast-style businesses that only provide accommodation and breakfast; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36992/24]

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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My question relates to the registration of short-term tourism letting legislation and how traditional bed and breakfasts will be impacted by that. The owners of bed and breakfasts right across Ireland are looking for clarity on whether they will be impacted in any way by the legislation.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Government’s housing policy, Housing for All, commits to the development of new regulatory controls requiring all short term lettings to register with Fáilte Ireland, with a view to ensuring that housing is used to best effect in areas of housing need. The proposed short-term letting and tourism Bill will provide the statutory basis for the establishment of a short-term lets register, including bed and breakfasts, in Ireland and for the implementation of the EU short-term rental regulation, which was adopted by the EU on 11 April 2024. I hope to bring the revised general scheme for the Bill to Government shortly for approval.

Fáilte Ireland currently maintains tourist accommodation registers, as provided for under the Tourist Traffic Acts, for accommodation types such as hotels and guest houses, but provision is not made for a number of other accommodation types, including bed and breakfasts. At present, registration of bed and breakfast accommodation with Fáilte Ireland is on a voluntary basis only. Bed and breakfasts have played a key role in welcoming visitors from around the world to Ireland for more than 50 years and this accommodation type is a unique part of the Irish tourism offering and an important part of the overall tourism accommodation ecosystem.

Of course, the tourism sector must coexist and develop in a way that recognises and is complementary to the wider needs of local communities, economically and socially. As such, the long-term sustainable growth of tourism requires an appropriate balance between the short and long term rental sectors. The Bill will provide greater transparency around short-term rentals and support the promotion of sustainable tourism. It will provide a framework within which planning authorities can identify such properties that are operating without the appropriate planning permission. Planning authorities will then able to adjudicate, in the context of local housing need, how applications for change of use planning permission might be dealt with.

My Department’s statement of strategy includes the goal of supporting the recovery and economic growth of a competitive tourism sector that is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable. Balancing local housing and tourism needs is a critical challenge and planning guidelines that are under development by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will be important in this regard. My colleague, the Minister for housing, intends to publish these guidelines in alignment with the publication of the Bill. I know that is the key area of interest and concern for the stakeholders to whom the Deputy referred.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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The purpose of the question is to get clarity on the traditional bed and breakfasts that we have all stayed in and that have been the backbone of the tourism sector for decades. They are planning compliant and pay commercial water bills and rates. These family-run businesses have been doing everything right for decades. There is a fear out there that they will get caught up in the legislation and the requirement to register.

In her answer, the Minister alluded to the fact that bed and breakfast providers register with Fáilte Ireland on a voluntary basis. Will there be a compulsory requirement for providers to register under the new legislation? If so, will they be inspected in terms of planning requirements and regulations? Bed and breakfasts are usually within the curtailment of an existing dwelling. I am trying to provide owners with assurance and clarity that they will not be impacted in any way by the proposed legislation.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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As I said, the self-catering and wider short-term letting sector is an important element of the tourism ecosystem. The tourism sector must coexist and develop in a way that recognises and is complementary to the wider needs of local communities. The long-term sustainable growth of tourism requires that appropriate balance is achieved between the short- and long-term rental sectors.

The Department of housing is the Department responsible for the planning system and is examining how best the planning system requirements can be implemented in those areas where housing demand pressure is not high but where rural tourism, in particular, is a strong feature of the local economy. Registration on the proposed short-term letting register will be a requirement for all self-catering and bed and breakfasts. For full compliance in registration, it is a requirement of all property owners to ensure that they have the correct planning permission for their accommodation offering. This requirement will also apply to self-catering and bed and breakfast properties.

Self-catering and bed and breakfasts are an incredibly important part of the overall tourism accommodation ecosystem and it is vital that, wherever possible, this is recognised in a sensitive and sensible way by the planning authorities. As I said, Minister O'Brien and his Department are working on the planning guidelines. It has been conveyed to me by the stakeholders the Deputy mentioned that this is their main concern. That is why we intend to publish the guidelines along with the publication of the Bill.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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I understand the self-catering element of this and the reference to self-catering bed and breakfasts, Airbnbs etc., but the bed and breakfasts to which I referred in my initial question are not self-catering but rather accommodation where people are welcomed into a family home. Further clarity is needed on that.

On the overall legislation, it is a fine balancing act that the Minister's Department and the Department of housing are faced with in terms of getting this right. We are all fully aware of challenges in some of our larger towns, in particular. I refer to Kinsale, where ten terraced houses in a row are all Airbnb or self-catering accommodation. That needs to stop because young people are scrambling for rental accommodation and cannot find it. We need to do something about that. We also need to acknowledge the fact that outside of the traditional bed and breakfasts I spoke about, there are some incredible family-run hospitality businesses that provide self-catering accommodation of the highest quality in a professional manner.

We cannot afford to let them fall by the wayside. We need to ensure a fine balance is struck between the two.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The registration on the proposed short-term letting register will be a requirement for all self-catering and bed and breakfast accommodation. For full compliance with the registration, it is a requirement for all property owners to ensure they have the correct planning permission for the accommodation they are offering. I mentioned, as did Deputy O'Sullivan, the balance that needs to be struck. The critical piece in balancing local housing and the needs of the tourism economy will be the planning guidelines. They are the absolutely critical piece that all stakeholders are waiting to see. They are still under development by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The guidelines aim to provide the necessary clarity to the sector on how planning authorities will implement the planning requirements around short-term let properties. The Minister for housing intends to publish these guidelines in alignment with and on the publication of the short-term letting Bill. I remember that Deputy O'Sullivan requested that on behalf of the stakeholders at a committee hearing last year.