2026-01-13

117. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment for an overview of the new national tourism policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1713/26]

The need for short-term lets for visitors to our shores cannot be underestimated in the make-up of the ideal mix of accommodation types to ensure that everybody has a full choice and range to decide from. We need long-term and short-term lets. There is no doubt about that. We need all sorts of accommodation. Restricting any type, such as short-term lets, is a detrimental move. We should encourage more of all types. Kerry is the premier tourist county in Ireland. Killarney is the best tourist town in the country. Local business owners should be consulted before any legislative changes are introduced. A wide range of accommodation types, including hotels, guest houses, bed and breakfasts and Airbnbs, is a primary reason visitors choose the area and choose Ireland.

I thank Deputy Cahill for his very important question. In line with the programme for Government, I was pleased to launch the Government's new national - I have the wrong one there. My apologies. I think I have the wrong question, if you could just give me a second. I do not see it here. Anyway, I will manage. In relation to our short-term lets, there is obviously a commitment in the programme for Government about managing our short-term lets. We know the sector has grown by about 10% per annum over the last number of years. Critically, my responsibility is through Fáilte Ireland as it will be designated as a competent authority. This will essentially require a process where short-term lets will have to register on a portal and be provided with a unique number to ensure they comply with planning law. That is the critical component for which I am responsible. The second, working with the Minister, Deputy Browne, is to come forward with a planning statement which will essentially designate the criteria for short-term lets. It is based on a population basis. We went forward to the Oireachtas joint committee and we are now awaiting its pre-legislative scrutiny report. That will be key for guiding the Minister, Deputy Browne, and I on the criteria that will be set out. I know the Deputy has raised very significant concerns about Killarney and other towns in relation to short-term lets. We will take on board all of those concerns. My critical concern is that we have to ensure we are bringing housing stock back into the long-term market, particularly in our large cities. As a tourism Minister, I also have to balance not only our indigenous tourism sector, which is very important, but also the societal need for housing. The challenge is getting the correct balance here. I absolutely commit that we will work the Deputy and others to try to get the right policy. We will consider the pre-legislative scrutiny report from the committee, which we are due to have very shortly. I want to see the sectors grow. In areas that do not have very significant hotel accommodation, I acknowledge you need short-term lets. I am absolutely aware of that. In many locations, it is not viable to build hotels at the moment. That is something we will be looking at in our accommodation strategy, which I also hope to bring forward this year.

Without the mix in accommodation and flexibility, many people would stay away, despite our fabulous food and stunning scenery offering from Kerry to Donegal. We need to be very careful that we do not kill the golden goose by legislating tourism accommodation providers out of the market. To fill the shortage of all types of lets, we need more premises. This is being addressed with the vacant and derelict property grants. I believe this will grow and can be sped up with more supports, such as with the expected investment in constructed wetlands in our towns and villages across the country, something I have been consistently calling for as a councillor and subsequently, as a TD for Kerry. I believe this would solve the housing shortage in the medium term. This is a quick, efficient and relatively cheap and easy to install system for treating wastewater without years of planning and construction. The new short-term letting register, managed by Fáilte Ireland, lacks the support of the tourism sector. The fact this register is to focus on just one type of letting has brought it into disrepute. Many believe it is discriminatory towards short-term letting and they are being held responsible for the shortage in long-term lets and the housing crisis. I believe the Airbnb sector has no intention of moving into long-term letting. The hosts have found their niche, pay their taxes and feel they should not be forced out of business.

It is not our intention to put anyone out of existence. I want to be clear that I am very keen on trying to develop our tourism sector. We now have a very robust plan, based on evidence, that will put key KPIs into our State agencies to ensure we are seeing 7% growth per annum in our sector. That will be very important. Obviously, County Kerry will be key in delivering that growth. My primary role is to devise the legislation coming forward to designate Fáilte Ireland as the competent authority. Obviously, the Minister, Deputy Browne, is in a trickier position in terms of deciding what the planning piece will be and what designation should be attached to the numbers of where you will be required to have planning permission and where it will be approved. That will be the key response. Across Government, we are working together to try to achieve a balance on that. I want to reinforce this point that I am very understanding there are areas right across our country where accommodation is under pressure and it is not viable to have hotels. We will be looking at that as well and looking at the product there is in County Kerry, which we want to support and want to continue, which we will under this current tourism policy. Over the past four consecutive months, we have seen very strong growth again and I want that to continue into 2026.

I thank the Minister. Legitimate businesses should be allowed to carry on. Other tactics need to be employed to encourage and attract people into offering long-term letting. I again call for a planning waiver. The Minister has touched on it there. Many of those with whom I deal in Killarney, Dingle, Kenmare and all of the towns in Kerry such as Killorglin, Tralee, Castleisland, Listowel and Cahersiveen, believe if they apply for planning permission, be it short-term or long-term, it could actually be refused. That is a very real concern. There is no point in me re-emphasising the importance of tourism to my county. We pride ourselves on tourism. We believe we are the premier tourist county. It is a great boast to have. We have the scenery. The people involved in the business of tourism in Kerry do it very well. Short-term letting is a big part of the business in Kerry. It is important to our visitors from all parts of the globe for that opportunity to be there. People invested in short-term letting and in their properties to put their kids through school, etc. They should not be dictated to in regards to what area they should be in.

I again thank the Deputy for his comments. I do not want to see any unintended consequences coming from this action. The core point is that when you have a sector that is growing at 10% per annum in terms of numbers, without any Government intervention, we need to ensure there is regulation here in some regard. It is about getting the correct policy to ensure we are getting the data from the people who are staying in these short-term lets as we do not know anything about many of them so we cannot craft tourism policy. That data will be very valuable for our tourism product. You also have to ensure that you have competing interests in an economy. We know we have a very acute housing crisis. Our cities are of particular concern. When you look at some of the Eurostat data about the utilisation of bed nights, some of these short-term lets in our cities are only rented out two or three nights a month. When you look at the Revenue that is coming in from those two or three nights and the property being vacant for the rest of the time, is that acceptable when society is under significant pressure for housing? Those are the types of trade-offs we have to consider in policy. We work closely with the Minister, Deputy Browne, on trying to get the balance right and taking into account what the Oireachtas joint committee did in pre-legislative scrutiny.