176. Deputy Edward Timmins asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the impact of the proposed Short-Term Letting and Tourism Bill 2025 on rural tourism. [30527/26]

In April of last year, I obtained Government approval for the general scheme of the Short-Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill. Once enacted, this Bill will provide a statutory framework for regulating the short-term letting (STL) sector, including the establishment of a national register.

The new Housing policy, proposed by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne T.D., and also approved by Government on 15 April 2025 proposes to generally preclude new planning permissions for STL in cities and larger towns. Further to this, on 9 February last, the Cabinet Committee on Housing proposed to apply this to towns and cities with populations over 20,000 persons at the latest census. These policies are part of a broader Government strategy to tackle the housing shortage by ensuring that as many suitable properties as possible are available for long-term rental.

This agreement provided that, following the introduction of the STL register, accommodation providers based in towns with a population of 20,000 or less at the last census based on the census town boundaries defined by CSO will have two years to meet planning compliance requirements, and accommodation providers based in towns with a population of more than 20,000 at the last census will need to confirm planning compliance on registration with no further lead-in period if they wish to register with Fáilte Ireland. It will still be possible to sub-let an entire principal private residence on a short-term basis for a cumulative period of 90 days. Where the 90-day threshold is exceeded, planning permission for a change of use is required. Where it can be proved that a residential property has an established use as an STL unit for at least 7 years and where no enforcement action has been taken by the planning authority, then planning permission for retention may be sought in line with existing established rights.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is drafting a National Planning Statement under the Planning and Development Act 2024. Once agreed, this will be brought to Government for information and will provide a clear overall policy approach both at national and local authority level to enable planning authorities to determine planning applications for short-term lets across the country.

Fáilte Ireland estimates that approximately 34,020 STL properties were advertised online in the State in October 2025 based on screen-scraped data from four major booking platforms. Up to 64% were listed as entire houses or apartments. This represents a 26% increase from an estimated 26,960 units in October 2022.

The national STL register will operate in compliance with the EU Short-Term Rental Regulation (EU) 2024/1028, which comes into effect on 20 May 2026. The register will be operated by Fáilte Ireland and will commence following the enactment of the necessary legislation.

Tourism is a vital part of the Irish economy, supporting 227,000 jobs and generating €6 billion in 2024. I fully recognise concerns about the impact on rural tourism and local economies of reducing STL availability. The approach agreed on 9 February will balance housing supply needs with the need to protect rural and regional tourism and jobs. These concerns are being addressed through continued engagement with all stakeholders.