Written Answers Nos. 654-664
656. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason the exemption for protected structures is listed as a potential exception in urban areas of high population under the short-term letting regulations and does not apply to rural areas where many historic structures are not suitable for long-term lets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14363/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 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.
In 2019, my Department brought in Regulations, (SI 235/2019), to provide for new arrangements for Short Term Lets within Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ). The regulations provided for the following:
• Short term letting is defined as the letting of a house or apartment, or part of a house or apartment, for any period not exceeding 14 days.
• Homesharing (the letting of a room or rooms in a person’s principal private residence) will continue to be permissible on an unrestricted basis and be exempted from the new planning requirements.
• Homesharers will be allowed to sub-let their entire principle private residence (house or apartment) on a short term basis for a cumulative period of 90 days where they are temporarily absent from their home. Where the 90 day threshold is exceeded, change of use planning permission will be required.
• Where a person owns a property in a RPZ which is not their principal private residence and intends to let it for short term letting purposes, s/he will be required to apply for a change of use planning permission unless the property already has a specific planning permission to be used for tourism or short-term letting purposes.
With the nationwide extension of RPZs in June 2025, the legislative requirement to gain planning permission for short-term letting use, as outlined above, was extended nationwide.
Approval was received from Government on the 15 April 2025 for a threshold based approach to generally preclude new planning permissions for Short-Term Lets in larger towns and cities. Further to this, on 9 February last, the Cabinet Committee on Housing proposed to generally preclude new planning permissions for Short-Term Lets in the 25 largest towns and cities with a population in excess of 20,000, at the most recent Census of Population, subject to Cabinet approval.
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 if they wish to register their short-term letting property with Fáilte Ireland. Accommodation providers based in towns with a population of 20,000 or less, based on the census town boundaries, will have an extended period to meet planning compliance requirements.
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 (NPS) for the Short-Term Letting sector to supplement and support the introduction of the STLT Bill.
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.
In January this year my Department issued a Circular (www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/circulars/spi-012026-short-term-letting-and-the-planning-system/) to clarify the current legislative and policy framework for the regulation of short-term letting of houses and apartments and other residential accommodation in the planning system. The circular was issued to all planning authorities and service providers, as well as other relevant stakeholders.
657. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a list of all State agencies within his Department that allocate programme and project funding to section 39, section 56 and section 10 organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14394/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department's role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of housing authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of homeless services rests with individual housing authorities.
My Department does not fund any Section 10 organisation directly but provides funding to housing authorities towards the operational costs of homeless accommodation and related services under Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988. Exchequer funding for homeless services is provided through my Department to housing authorities on a regional basis with a lead authority in each region.
Financial reports from each of the homeless regions setting out expenditure on homeless services are published on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/80ea8-homelessness-data/#local-authority-regional-financial-reports
658. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the State agencies within his Department that have made provision for the pension auto enrolment payment as part of their allocation to funded organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14412/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe State bodies under the aegis of my Department have confirmed that they do not provide funding to other organisations from within their allocation where making provision for pension auto enrolment would be required.
659. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has considered or supported small-scale, clustered or integrated housing developments specifically designed for adults with intellectual disabilities who wish to live independently while remaining close to their peers and community, such as a proposed development of 15–20 universally designed homes in Balbriggan, County Dublin (details supplied). [14465/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra660. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the funding streams, including capital assistance scheme, housing for all measures, or other capital programmes, which could be accessed by disability-led or family-led groups seeking to develop accessible, non-institutional housing models that prioritise dignity, choice, and community integration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14466/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra661. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether current housing policy adequately recognises the need for housing models that allow adults with intellectual disabilities to live near friends and established support networks, rather than being placed in isolated or inappropriate settings such as nursing homes or scattered housing far from their community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14467/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra662. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the engagement his Department has had with the HSE, the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality, and local authorities to ensure that housing delivery for people with disabilities aligns with individualised supports rather than institutional-style provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14468/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra663. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the planning, land-use, or local authority supports that will be made available to enable a community-based housing model that is neither a congregated setting nor a residential institution, but a fully integrated neighbourhood within a wider housing estate supporting adults with intellectual disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14469/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra664. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether housing for all targets include provision for adults with intellectual disabilities who can live independently with supports; if not, whether he will commit to reviewing this gap in view of ongoing reliance on unsuitable housing options; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14470/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 659 to 664, inclusive, together.
My Department jointly published the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People (NHSDP) 2022-2027 and Implementation Plan with the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality. The Strategy and Implementation Plan may be accessed on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/60d76-national-housing-strategy-for-disabled-people-2022-2027/
The Implementation Plan sets out the actions to achieve the vision of the joint Strategy for delivering housing and related supports for disabled people to 2027 operating under the new housing plan Delivering Homes, Building Communities.
Delivering Homes, Building Communities aims to deliver 300,000 new homes by the end of 2030, including 72,000 social homes and 90,000 affordable housing supports by the end of 2030. To achieve this, the largest ever housing budget in the history of the State has been secured in 2026, with in excess of €9 billion in capital funding through the Exchequer, the Land Development Agency (LDA) and the Housing Finance Agency (HFA). Government is fully committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver social, affordable and cost rental homes at scale and to continue accelerating housing supply across all tenures.
Local authorities play a key role in the planning and provision of social housing in their areas, and decide on the number and types of dwellings to provide, based on identified need including disabled people.
Under Delivering Homes, Building Communities, each local authority will prepare a new Housing Delivery Action Plan (HDAP), reflecting local need identified including within the Housing Needs and Demand Assessment Framework. Within this broad framework, evidence-informed local authority HDAPs provide a detailed picture of the quantum, type, size and location of social homes to be delivered by local authorities and AHBs. Learning from the first round of these plans will help inform and strengthen the next iteration of plans and set clear targets against which local authority and AHB delivery will be benchmarked to 2030. This will include minimum targets for quantity, type and size of social homes; for example, identifying housing for priority groups including disabled persons.
All local authorities have Housing and Disability Steering Groups (HDSGs) whose role is to put in place strategic plans for housing for disabled people and to monitor activity under these plans. The HDSGs are representative of disabled people as well as the Health Services Executive, the local authority and Approved Housing Bodies and are a key driver of the provision of housing for disabled people at local level.
Separately, my Department published a Design Manual for Quality Housing (the Design Manual) which is available on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/b3e02-design-manual-for-quality-housing/
The Design Manual is intended to guide local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies, and their consultants, on the design of social housing including the internal layouts of individual social homes. The Design Manual includes guidance on the approach to ‘Housing for People with Disability’ (Section 5.3.2) and specific design approaches developed with the input of the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design. My Department is working with all local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies to utilise this Design Manual for all new build social housing projects.
The Design Manual contains the H15 unit type, which is a design approach for a Group Home or Community Dwelling usually used in the provision of housing for people with intellectual disability. There are currently three variations on the H15 design in the Design Manual for Quality Housing.
Housing for disabled people is funded under the capital schemes for local authority housing through the Social Housing Investment Programme (SHIP) and, in particular, the AHBs through the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS) for the provision of independent living accommodation to meet the needs of people with specific categories of needs, including disabled people.
Between 2022 and 2024 a total of €54.9 million of CAS funding has been provided by the Department and 280 units of housing for disabled people were delivered in those 3 years.
Any organisation registered as an AHB with the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority is eligible to apply for funding from the Department, once they meet the minimum criteria for eligibility for funding. Section 25 of the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 outlines the eligibility criteria for an organisation seeking to become an AHB, information on these criteria is available on the Regulator’s website at: www.ahbregulator.ie/registration/eligibility-registration/
Organisations seeking to become AHBs should contact the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority.
My Department, in conjunction with local authorities and AHBs, continue to work and engage with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and the HSE within the framework of the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027. This is to ensure the coordinated provision of independent living accommodation to meet the needs of disabled people, in conjunction with the delivery of the disability services supports for independent living for disabled people which is the responsibility of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the HSE.
