Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 June 2024
102. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if traditional bed and breakfasts (details supplied) will be impacted by the Registration of Short-Term Tourist Letting Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25773/24]
View answerOn 7 December 2022, the Government approved the publication of the General Scheme of the Registration of Short-Term Tourist Letting Bill (STTL Bill) and the priority drafting of the Bill providing for the establishment of a new registration system for short-term lettings to be operated by Fáilte Ireland in line with the commitment in this regard under Housing for All - A New Housing Plan for Ireland. The work on the Bill is being led by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (DTCAGSM). The proposed STTL Bill remains the subject of ongoing engagement with the EU Commission in accordance with the requirements of EU Directive 2015/1535 on the Technical Regulation of Information Society services (the TRIS Directive).
I am informed that Fáilte Ireland maintains tourist accommodation registers as provided for under the Tourist Traffic Acts. These include accommodation types such as hotels, guest houses and youth hostels but do not include a number of tourism accommodation types, including bed and breakfast accommodation. Bed and breakfast accommodation has 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.
The proposed Registration of Short Term Tourist Letting (STTL) Bill will provide the statutory basis for the establishment of a register for those tourism accommodation types not currently provided for under the Tourism Traffic Acts. Once the STTL register is established, bed and breakfasts will be required to register with Fáilte Ireland. At present, registration with Fáilte Ireland is done on a voluntary basis only.
Under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the Act), all development, unless specifically exempted under the Act or associated Regulations, requires planning permission. This includes a material change of use of a property such as for short term letting. Where a person owns a second property which is not their principal private residence and lets it, or intends to let it, for short-term letting purposes, they will require the appropriate planning permission to do so unless the property concerned already has planning permission to be used for tourism or short-term letting purposes, or is otherwise exempted under legislation.
Any development which falls outside the scope of an exemption and the conditions and limitations attached to it is subject to planning permission to allow for consideration of the impacts of the specific proposal on a case by case basis by local planning authorities. While planning history and established use may be relevant for continuation of that use, it would have no bearing on the requirement for a valid planning permission to be in place for registration for STL purposes.
Article 10 of the Planning and Development Regulations provides that certain changes of use, with regard to particular classes of use, are also exempted from the requirement to obtain permission. Any such exemptions are subject to compliance with any general restrictions on exemptions set out in the Act or the Regulations and to the specific conditions set out in each class of exempted development in Schedule 2 of the Regulations.
Article 10(4) of the Regulations provides that:
“Development consisting of the use of not more than 4 bedrooms in a house, where each bedroom is used for the accommodation of not more than 4 persons as overnight guest accommodation, shall be exempted development for the purposes of the Act, provided that such development would not contravene a condition attached to a permission under the Act or be inconsistent with any use specified or included in such a permission.”
My Department is currently developing Planning Guidelines for the Short-Term Letting sector to supplement the introduction of the STTL Bill. This guidance will provide clarity and certainty on the planning permission requirements in respect of short-term letting properties. It is intended that a draft of the guidelines will be published simultaneously with the publication of the STTL Bill by DTCAGSM in order that property owners can have a greater understanding of the planning requirements well in advance of the final enactment of the STTL Bill.
