An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-24
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Michael Collins (II), Cork South-West

I welcome members of Kinsale Men's Shed who are with us today. I also welcome those in the Gallery involved in short-term lets who are fighting for their very survival and were in Buswells Hotel earlier today. The people of Ireland, mainly in coastal communities, are genuinely worried about what the Government is about to do with these short-term letting proposals. In places like west Cork, from Kinsale to Castletownbere, Airbnb and short-term let hosts are ordinary families, mainly small farmers and women trying to keep the lights on. They are terrified that these new rules will wipe out Airbnb and short-term lets altogether and, with it, the tourism that keeps our small towns alive. The legislation proposes to ask people to get planning permission. For many of them, that could cost tens of thousands of euro, which they simply cannot afford. I also sat in the committee meeting with officials from the Departments of tourism and planning on the short-term letting and tourism Bill. I say it straight. They are all over the place. There is no joined-up thinking with regard to the planning aspect of this Bill. These short-term lets, whether tree houses, pods, sheds, granny flat or tents, were built for tourism and tourism only-----

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:40+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-24