Pushing out the short-term let register by six months has solidified Fianna F\u00e1il as the party of AirBnBs and landlords, not renters or those looking to buy a home, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne.<\/p>\n
Deputy Hearne said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe short-term let register was due to come into effect next week, a year after Enterprise Minister Peter Burke secured Cabinet approval to publish the General Scheme of the new Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we learned that the register has been pushed out until December, which means that short-term lets can operate with impunity over the busy summer period while the country continues to deal with the worst housing crisis in its history.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe register would free up more properties for the long-term rental market, which is urgent given there were only 14 properties available to rent within the limits of the HAP scheme across 16 local authority areas in March, while there continues to be a dire shortage of long term rental properties of any kind across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 25 times more AirBnBs than long-term rental units, while a conservative estimate is that there are four times as many short-term lets than long-term rental properties across the country. The owners of these properties are who Fianna F\u00e1il represents, not the thousands struggling to secure a roof over their heads.<\/p>\n
\u201cHomelessness continues to be a national catastrophe which is worsening by the month, yet the Minister for Housing makes no serious moves address this – over 17,000 people, including over 5,000 children, are homeless, a shocking indictment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coalition has form for breaking their promises to renters and those looking to own a home – earlier this year, the Government diluted the prospective register by excluding towns with a population fewer than 20,000 people from its remit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was to placate AirBnB owners and landlords, while no heed was paid to those caught up in the national housing disaster.<\/p>\n
\u201cFianna F\u00e1il and its Housing Minister is putting the interests of AirBnB and landlords offering short term lets ahead of the renters of Ireland, despite the housing crisis reaching new lows once considered unimaginable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a party which is serious about housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
May 13th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pushing out the short-term let register by six months has solidified Fianna F\u00e1il as the party of AirBnBs and landlords, not renters or those looking to buy a home, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: \u201cThe short-term let register was due to come into effect next week, a year after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7,510],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housing-crisis","category-press-release","category-rory-hearne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n