Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation Dail Éireann — 2026-01-29 ============================================================ Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow I thank Deputy Collins for how he has raised the issue. It is important we tease through this carefully. I think we would all agree there is a need to make sure we get the best use out of the housing stock that exists in our country, particularly in a housing emergency. We all share that view. We do not want an unintended consequence. This is not about going into small rural communities where they are very reliant on this. The Government will have to consider this. Work is being done. The population of an area may be one indicator and we will engage with the sector. We will do this. We intend to regulate the short-term let sector. That is important but we need to do it with a degree of caution and informed evidence to make sure we continue to support the tourism sector while making sure, particularly in larger areas, that for Airbnb and the likes there is some regulation and structure. We are trying to get the balance right. I am happy to engage further with the Deputy on it. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-29/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-01-29