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LAST UPDATE | 24 May 2022
THE GOVERNMENT WILL not be opposing a Sinn Féin bill that seeks to penalise rental advertisers like Airbnb from hosting non-compliant short-term rental ads.
The bill would require estate agents and online platforms to only advertise properties that are compliant with the Planning and Development Act.
Under rules introduced by previous housing minister Eoghan Murphy TD in 2019, property owners letting a property are required to apply to their local authority for ‘change of use’ planning permission.
Under the rules, an annual cap of 90 days applies for the renting out of a home and homeowners can only rent out their homes for 14 days or less at a time.
Exemptions to the rules are possible but it is intended that exemptions cannot be granted in areas designated as Rent Pressure Zones.
The maximum fine for non-compliance with planning breaches is a €5,000 fine or six months imprisonment but Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin TD said today that one of the “missing pieces” to the legislation was the lack of penalties for advertisers as well as the property owner.
Ó Broin said it is “not acceptable” for companies like Airbnb to “profit from law breaking” by allowing non-compliant short-term rental ads on their platforms.
Eoin Ó Broin TD made the comments today as he tabled a bill that seeks to issue spot fines to advertisers that host non-compliant ads.
“It will be a very, very simple thing to do. Simply create an offence under law to advertise properties without either an exemption or planning permission, and give local authorities the power to issue spot fines for every day a property isn’t complying with planning law,” he said.
We do not believe it’s acceptable for platforms like Airbnb, or anybody else, to not only to facilitate law breaking but to profit from it.Given the escalating crisis in the private rental sector and the continual loss of long term lets we think it’s time for them to get tough with Airbnb and other platforms. We’re not proposing to change the regulations at this point in time. We just want them enforced.
Ó Broin added that only the minister has the power to set the level of fine but that any penalty should be “at least above the amount of money the platform would make on a daily basis if the property was to be let out”.
At a Cabinet meeting today, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien secured agreement that the bill would not be opposed. A government spokesperson said:
We are not opposing this Bill as the government’s Housing for All plan contains a specific action (Action 20.4) – to “develop new regulatory controls requiring short-term and holiday lets to register with Fáilte Ireland with a view to ensuring that houses are used to best effect in areas of housing need.
The government has said that legislation to underpin this new registration system could be implemented this year with Fáilte Ireland being given additional funding to design and establish the system.
The issue of short-term lettings has gained additional attention in recent weeks as the number of long-term property to rent has hit an all-time low. A report from Daft.ie noted that there were just 1,397 homes available to rent on 1 February nationwide.
By comparison, estimates from website Inside Airbnb have shown there were more than 15,000 Irish properties listed on Airbnb on a day last week.
In a statement to The Journal however, Airbnb said that recent analysis comparing long-term rental supply with Airbnb listings “uses a flawed methodology and scraped data to make misleading claims”.
Airbnb says that its listings in Ireland include “a segregated part of someone’s home, converted barns, yurts and other types of spaces not suitable for long-term housing”.
Airbnb also said that it supports “better regulation in Ireland” and has promoted the 2019 regulations to property owners using its site “to boost awareness and compliance with the rules”.
Derek Nolan, Airbnb’s head of public policy in Ireland said:
The majority of hosts are regular Irish families who typically share their home for around three nights a month, and over a third say the additional income is an economic lifeline. We take local housing challenges seriously and want to be part of the solution.
Nolan, a former Labour TD, added: “We welcome regulation and want to work together on rules, which is why we have had active discussions with the government on how to implement a registration system. This will help everyday families benefit from visitors to their communities while clamping down on speculators and bad actors.”
Darragh O’Brien
Minister O’Brien has pledged to table intentions to address the question of short-term lettings in the coming weeks.
Speaking on RTÉ he said that while the 2019 regulations are “strong” he does not believe they are being “adhered to”.
“Very shortly I will have additional legislation that I am bringing forward in this space,” he said.
If someone is going on holidays and lets out their home for a couple of weeks or lets out their room, that shouldn’t be an issue, but the idea that we have a situation where we have multiples of short terms lets versus long terms in all our major cities is not a sustainable situation.
“I am concluding work on some quite significant amendments in that space which I will bring in before the summer recess.”
O’Brien said that the government needs to do more than what Sinn Féin is proposing.
“A fine isn’t going to do it,” he said.
They (Sinn Fein) have not done the work for me on this but I welcome any realistic proposals that can help the situation. I intend to go further than that.What I will bring forward will be more significant than the opposition who haven’t raised this issue in a couple of years.What I will propose will go significantly further than that.
Asked today about O’Brien’s pledge to address the issue, Sinn Féin’s Ó Broin said: “I welcome any action by the government to address this issue, I would remind people that Darragh O’Brien promised last August to do this and he has yet to do it. So we judged on the merits of the proposal when it’s published.”
Where are all the asylum seeking women and children being housed? Genuine question. There are buses and buses and more buses of men but it rarely shows any women or children on the buses. I’m genuinely curious here
@Gregson from the Block: don’t believe everything you see. In my locality (one of largest towns in the country) a large B&B has been used to house Ukrainians. A campaign using such photos/videos/’information’ was run in the aftermath of word getting out which resulted in an organised protest outside the premises – the buses arrived, and the vast majority of passengers were women with young children. They were met with angry chants of “out, out, out” etc., little children whose world has already been turned upside down met with this anger and nastiness. Thankfully, though the group claimed to have massive numbers it was a very small number when the population of the town is factored, and a far greater number of people showed support.
@Jo H: he said asylum seekers, not refugees.
@Jo H: Oh I know all that alright. In my own little town a closed nursing home was used for genuine Ukrainian families in the aftermath of the war breaking out and nobody had any problem with it. That was a rare sight though. I have seen with my own eyes multiple buses in bigger towns and cities unloading nothing but African men in their early 20s. If they are fleeing persecution then where are their mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers etc etc. I’ve not seen any of them
@Gregson from the Block: if you’re a man trying to start a new life for your family, do you send your wife and kids to a strange country for her to try find a job and place to live while taking care of your children at the same time?
Or do you leave them at home, possibly with family to support them, and go yourself to find a job and place to live and then send for them? Common sense.
@Karl Harvey: Asylum seekers can not seek employment so your point is a little moot.
@Karl Harvey: what are they fleeing from without their wife and kids? Nothing. “I went to a strange country as an asylum seeker fleeing death but left my family behind for a few years until I decided to bring them”.
@Gregson from the Block: They can get a job when they’re granted asylum, so no my point is not moot. Do you think they come for a brief holiday in Mosney and then back home?
@Eoghan Augusta: In these countries war and general social unrest can go on for years, and there might not be bombs raining 24/7, but the threat of death is constantly there. How do you build a happy life in those conditions?
Some people apply for asylum because they’re LGBT and their country has death sentences if they get found out to not be straight, so they come here for the chance to live safely. It’s not a simple thing. We don’t know how lucky we are.
@Gregson from the Block: Are you trying to shift the focus on what happened on the bus?
@Karl Harvey: we don’t know how lucky we are but if we are not lucky enough to have the money to buy a home for a family, like them we are homeless. The inflation and BS around property in this country has priced most out of the market. I’m not sure why to their is no sympathy to Irish people.. usually called freeloaders but we have so much compassion for stories we don’t even know about.
@Karl Harvey: You’re suggesting that men come to Ireland, wait for 10 years or more before they’re granted asylum and then bring their families over? Riiiiiiighteo
@Eoghan Augusta: I have compassion for both. If I’m angry at anyone it’s the government. The people on the bus have no power over anything and didn’t cause the housing crisis, the government did. If you’re angry they’re here, bring it to the government who let them in at least. We have more in common with the asylum seekers and refugees than ministers in the dail.
@Gregson from the Block: Do a bit of research. The answer is out there.
@Karl Harvey: When they get citizenship, suddenly it becomes perfectly safe to fly back to Africa on holidays.
@Gregson from the Block: What business is it of yours where they are housed and
why does it concern you?
@Jo H: True enough, the Ukrainians are generally women and children. However those from Africa and south-west Asia are nearly all youngish men.
@Gregson from the Block: families with kids are given first priority when it comes to accommodation. It makes sense to house families in separate accommodation to single males who can be housed in dorm like accommodation. You couldn’t put a family with kids in a room with single unrelated males.
@Gregson from the Block: no you haven’t , why would you happen to be there every time a bus is unloaded
@Seán O’Sullivan: Good one Sean
Grotesque behaviour by the protesters. Pure thuggery plain and simple. Likely made of the same people, or caliber of people you usually find at these things.
It’s okay to protest whatever you want to protest – it’s not okay to actively terrorize people less fortunate than you who are looking for little less than survival.
@Gavin Rynn: 100% agree with your comment. That had to be extremely intimidating for the individuals on the bus. It quite the contrast from cahersiveen when the locals actively acted to keep the asylum seekers there. That said, the government needs to take a serious look at taking in vast amounts of more asylums as the system really is at max capacity and i think more days like this are to come. Let’s look after those who we’ve welcomed in so far but its also time to get smart what how we are going to manage what’s here before accepting any more.
@Gavin Rynn: Well said
Blaming the protesters is just a distraction.
If it was managed properly and transparently protest, would never have taken place.
We’re a very welcoming nation
This government avoid accountability at all cost.
There’s not another country in the world who’s borders are open to abuse more then Irelands.
If anybody raises a concern their immediately accused of victimisation of asylum seekers.
Take responsibility, be honest and transparent and this wont arises !!
FF FG Greens ….. you cant trust them .
Genuinely shocked at how people think it’s all about foreigners. We are in the worst housing crisis we’ve ever seen. The Irish homeless stats are no longer a thing. We have skid row in Dublin City, we have modular homes being rolled out everywhere but we’ve Irish people being told to move back in with their parents or ask the bank of mom and dad. Now we can build whatever you want for 80k but we don’t have the budget for native families being forced out by high rents. Hypocrites and virtue signallers part of the circus that is the Leo lovers. His boyfriend couldn’t even go to a coronation on the world stage without being a self entitled d head.
The labour pool of Clare is 30 men broader tonight. IBEC and all the bosses intent on keeping wages low will be well pleased.
@Jerriko17: So you agree that they are economic migrants?
@edward smith: FYI…. Most migrants usually go to an economically better place whether they are forced migrants or voluntary migrants!!!!
@edward smith: do you have any family or friends in Aus, Canada etc. ye know those economic emigrants force to flee this county in death of decent wages to provide homes for their young families. Or should the Aussies be boarding buses to video them and intimidate them.
These thugs boarding buses to intimidate are behaving like Provo or UVF terrorists. Such activity can not be tolerated in a democracy and requires a robust and immediate response.
@ Right wing populist traitor William slevin:
Still spouting your populist rants. CTRL C and CTRL V is a shortcut for copying and pasting.
@Stephen Kearon: Counting people on a bus is the same as the Shankill butchers?
@edward smith: nope, but it has some parallels with the Kingsmill tragedy.
@Stephen Kearon: do you spend hours trying to work references to north into threads. Especially for a member of FF a party established by “ terrorists”!!!
Leo says that no one can choose who lives nearby.
Where he lives – there is no need to choose. The price of houses does that.
I note that the Champagne Socialist President Michael D has a 92 room mansion mostly empty and he has not offered some of his huge space to either our native homeless or the asylum seekers. Our politicans are also silent about offering a place in their homes to those asylum seekers domiciled in Clare. There is a lot of preaching but no much practice.
Rewind, unacceptable to count people entering your tiny community, but entirely acceptable to dump them there devoid of any prior communication with the community? Have they forgotten who pays there overindulged salaries
@Hunglikejesus: why would the community be informed ? What benefit does that have ?
Wow comments open
I think if these people had day jobs to go to they wouldn’t have time to be boarding buses and shaming the rest of us.
@Desmond Quinn: Yeah, why aren’t they working in the IFSC in rural Clare where even a hotel can’t survive.
@Eoghan Augusta: you’re the genius with the Noble Prize in Economic Sciences why don’t you enlighten us.
@Desmond Quinn: because you’re taking absolutely pony lad.. you might have a happy 9-5 you don’t in rural Ireland. You sh!t the bed attempting their hours. You’re too busy virtue signalling. Get the finger out..
Counting people is now a “horror”. Gimme a break!
@Tony Murphy: Why, Tony? Getting on a bus and videoing distressed people is a normal behaviour for an Irish citizen?
I see the establishment loyalist fascists are here to defend the government…hey squidy it’s the people that run this country…your fascism is showing…
@William slevin: dont have me take out a restraining order Willy. Its over. Its been over for weeks now. I dont love you anymore.
@William slevin: The government consist of TDs who are democratically elected to run the country.
Not those who think they are entitled to take the law into their own hands. That is anarchy
Whos runnthis country? Get the authorities in to police this before someone gets hurt
The establishment is seek to turn the country into a crucible…and the establishment loyalist fascists are doing their best to ensure this happens…
@Right wing populist traitor William slevin:
CTRL C + CTRL V
When are the ordinary Irish citizens going to realise what is really going on. Do they really believe our government are working in the best interests of us the people of Ireland. Just travel around this very small country and open your eyes, were are being replaced not over decades by rather literally month by month. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.
@Proinnsias O’Dubhlaoich: “Us the people of Ireland”. Give me a break. Go out to vote next election.
@Proinnsias O’Dubhlaoich:Germany thought the same in the 30s as well. Good result there
As usual, the masses squabble amongst themselves and punch down. Keep your eyes off the ball boys, keep blaming the poor victims of circumstance. The fact is this country is vastly under populated and has plenty of work. An artifically created housing crisis has been invented to keep prices up and profits rolling in for the 1% at the top. All this hate and controversy about migrants and accommodation is even better in their eyes. Just keep the common folk scrabbling around in the dirt fighting amongst themselves and never looking up.
@John Lonergan: under populated? Without houses what’s the point? You don’t sell tents by any chance do you? It would make sense in that comment.
@Eoghan Augusta: the lack of homes is totally a FFG created crisis. Target your anger in that direction only.
the media narrative from rte and its likes is shocking,some of the nonsense i heard on radio 1 drivetime was as bad as it gets,with “reporters” asking leading questions to “refugees”
@John O’sullivan: seeking to control the narrative for the establishment to use against we the irish people…
@William slevin: “The estabishment”. Are you living in the 19th century?
When are they going to be deported?
@Eamon Deegan: Who? The right wing crew responible for this? If only we could deport them for the shame they have brought to the country. The same shsme wallace and daly have brought to it!
With our history of emigration to make better lives for ourselves, you’d think we’d be 100% accommodating to immigrants coming here to do the same, and I can guarantee most of these protesters have emigration in their family history.
@Andrew Giles:
that’s a ridiculous sentiment…so we must pay for those who left us behind…are you crazy…let the country’s emigrants go to choose how they deal with them and we will choose how we deal with the immigrants that come here…
@William slevin: You might change your tune if you or anyone you love (if you’re even capable of that!!!) end up in A&E being looked after by a migrant consultant from Syria and getting your bloods taken by a migrant nurse from The Philippines and getting your breakfast served to you by a migrant from Nigeria!!!! because they’re the only ones we can get to work there!!!!
@William slevin: is it the immigrants you have a problem with, the Government, or are you just xenophobic .
@William slevin: Jawohl, mein Führer!
@William slevin: you do know the last person I heard using that kind of reasoning was a lad by the name of Hitler…..funny to hear it coming from an anti west, pro russian supporter like yourself, considering the reasoning Putin used for the invasion of Ukraine! Don’t you think? Ever tired of digging yourself that hole!
@Andrew Giles: all if the above
@ Aine O Connor
Yes you are right we did it and got hardship but point you are missing a lot of Irish the emigrated did so to big country’s that could handle it. Also a lot of Irish in past left with their families these are all male refugees getting put in these places. Now I would never begrudge anyone who wants a better life but it needs to be done the right way a lot coming in are “losing” id’s. Would that not make you wonder why what have they to hide? A lot will be escaping wars in Syria etc which is fine with me anyway. But to come in with no documents makes me think what have they to hide maybe they have committed crime in other EU countries or who’s to say a lot of them without documents are not ex isis. The outrage in people is not bringing in refugees it’s the ones that have no documents it’s a free for all and compounded by fact government have left our own people on streets without any action
Ukrainian economic migrants have travelled through 5/6 safe countries to get here. The huge majority of Ukrainians in Ireland are taking advantage of the war to gain access to the EU and countries like Ireland. They return home to Ukraine regularly for weddings and family occasions, they consider us incredibly naive and gullible. These people are a huge burden on our economy and costing us billions while our own suffer. It has to stop, enough is enough. Ukrainians in Ireland are not refugees and our government knows it
@Bald And Broke: And once again it needs to be explained to you! They arrived into the EU and each country takes a share…..due to international law and so on. This thing of crossing 5/6 other countries is a myth being propagated by the far right because the truth does not suit the far right agenda.
The only ones who think we are gullible are the far right crowd if they think people will swallow the BS you come out with.
Ireland of the welcomes…. Well, only if you’re a rich American tourist..
4.5 million Irish people arrived in America between 1820 and 1930. Between 1820 and 1860, the Irish constituted over one third of all immigrants to the United States. In the 1840s, they comprised nearly half of all immigrants to this nation.
Our elected government are making a holy b******s of this but let’s show a little heart folks. No point in fervently brandishing that tricolour if it stands for nothing.
Just disgusting
Journalists are disgusting. I honestly don’t know how they sleep at night.
We’ve all seen the protestors and we all know that if there were more than ten people on that bus the head count won’t be accurate.
Wait, these people can count ?
@Cathal Doherty: Better than you most likely. You should ask Leo how is entitled fella gets on on the World Stage. Representing Irish with that moron and couldn’t even not be a self entitled muppet for a day. I’d say you can count a few bedrooms to have them.
@Eoghan Augusta: ‘couldn’t even not’. Come on Eoghan, try harder than that.
@Cathal Doherty: big population… will of the people… I’m sure you’ll take someone in.. plus the rest of the population who apparently want everyone in they can be easily housed. Then we can house the stats that prior to the war were at the fore of the news but now are deemed irrelevant. It’s not all far right. It’s the lack of homes the lack of building. Budgets not being used. What happened to the worst housing crisis in Irish history? It disappeared? Its solved? They don’t care? Maybe the latter.
@Cathal Doherty: if they use all ten fingers ….just about!
Shouldn’t have been allowed board the bus, the protestors are reminiscent of the National Socialist Party in Germany in the 30′s…
Funny how there is not as much condemnation from the government about this as there was in east wall. And there has not been a presence of garda at the same level. Must be because the core of ff/fg voters will be outside Dublin so they don’t want to upset them as much
Did the Cork brothers have any involvement in this? You know the ones who say they’re doing all this to protect the community while they have convictions in multiple burglaries, drug dealing, drug possession, assault and destruction of property?
@Calvin Sweeney: no I think most of this is at the behest of the parties who have rinsed this country into bankruptcy, created a phenomenally bad housing crisis and taxed the young people out of homes and country. You would order 10 pints with a fiver.. so why bring in 80k displaced people to a country that was already -15k houses for people years on a list. I’m guessing they hoped it would be quiet and the EU wouldn’t hear about the nasty situation in good old ireland.
@Calvin Sweeney: One brush to tar everyone. So clever. I’d never have thought of that.
Wishy washy politicians need to get a grip here and tell the gardai to do their job. There is no way so called “protesters” should be allowed to take the law into their own hands.This intimidatory behaviour should not be tolerated. Escalation will result unless someone takes charge of the situation.
more thuggish behaviour from these protesters
Wonder did any of the asylum seekers have phone to video the idiots videoing them. That video might be worth a few bob
The state uniparty is rotten.
If true, and I hope not, where is the evidence for this?
The Irish know only too well what’s it’s like to have to flee their own country in their millions especially during the Famine years. They were not made welcome either in some places and had to endure severe hardship in order to try and survive. I am deeply ashamed by the actions of these protesters ,they are acting as Judge and Jury to people whom they do not know anything about or why they are seeking Asylum. How come these protesters have so much free time on their hands. The housing crisis in Ireland is not the fault of Asylum Seekers, it’s failed Government Policy over many years ,long before the War in Ukraine.
@William slevin:
Typical comment from a racist/xenophobe. always going on about foreigners. they do jobs that the Irish are too lazy to do
@John Deane:
Right wing populist traitor William Slevin is a populist spouting cowards. Uses terms such as “the people”….so you are either with “the people” or against “the people”. Populist leaders globally use this and it is straight from the populist playbook. They will erode freedoms if they have their way.
@William slevin: Wow! Intolerance AND illiteracy! You don’t do things by halves, do you?
@William slevin: You don’t seem to understand the difference between “their” and “they’re”. Why would anyone listen to your opinion on anything?
@William slevin: racist drivel. Sad man
Haha I’ve broke my detractors lol your a gas lot you establishment loyalist fascists…you finally broke
@William slevin: if thats what you think Willie, it shows how delusioned you actualky are…..you’ve broken no one exceprt we cannot be bothered desling with such arrogent racism.
You sure they weren’t just welcoming them with a friendly oat on the head?
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