Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 February 2026
421. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to clarify the administrative boundaries that will be used to determine towns in excess of 20,000 people for the purposes of regulating short-term rentals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13326/26]
View answerThe EU Short Term Rental (STR) Regulation was adopted by the EU on 11 April 2024 and is applicable from 20 May 2026. This Regulation lays down harmonised rules on the collection and exchange of data on short-term rental services for member states, hosts providing short-term accommodation rental services, and online platforms that offer services to hosts providing short-term accommodation rental services within the EU.
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) has drafted the Short Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill General Scheme in full alignment with the STR Regulation. The introduction of the STLT Bill will provide a more effective legal and administrative basis to regulate short term lettings. This Bill when enacted will provide the statutory basis for the introduction of a register for all Short Term Lettings in Ireland, which will be implemented and managed by Fáilte Ireland from 20 May 2026.
Following the approval received from Government on the 15 April 2025 to generally preclude new planning permissions for Short-Term Lets in large towns and cities, my Department is working to give effect to this decision. Further to this, the Cabinet Committee on Housing recently proposed to apply this to towns and cities with populations over 20,000, at the most recent Census of Population, subject to Cabinet approval.
For the purpose of identifying the specific land area of a town/settlement with a census population in excess of 20,000 persons, it is appropriate to utilise the Built-Up Areas (BUAs) boundaries provided by the Central Statistics Office. Use of BUAs as the boundary for determining locations allows for clear and consistent delineation of the areas on which the population of the settlement is based. BUA boundaries are available at: www.cso.ie/en/
To ensure that there is a clear view, both at national level and local authority level, as to the overall policy approach to determining planning applications for Short-Term Lets, my Department is currently developing a National Planning Statement for the Short-Term Letting sector to supplement and support the introduction of the STLT Bill. It will consider a variety of factors, such as existing planning legislation, the long term housing need in the local authority area, the location of the proposed short term let and balancing housing need with the potential impact on tourism and economic development.
It should be noted that in advance of the publication of the NPS, local authorities can continue to make decisions on applications for change of use in respect of short-term letting properties. The decision of the local authority will be informed by local policy contained in the city and county development plans and local area plans, where applicable.
A recent Circular SPI 01/2026 Short-Term Letting and the Planning System - www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/circulars/spi-012026-short-term-letting-and-the-planning-system/ - issued by my Department on 23 January 2026, to all local authorities, sets out the current legislative and policy framework for the regulation of short-term letting.
