Rural families must not be 'punished' under short-term letting bill, committee told

'People say they can’t get rental accommodation in Kinsale. They identify vacant premises and, in a significant percentage, they find they’re up on Airbnb,' said Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O’Sullivan at the committee meeting. Picture: Dan Linehan

The return of over 10,000 Airbnb-style properties to the long-term housing stock would be “significant" in a time of crisis, but rural Ireland could lose out, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

Irish Self-Catering Federation chairperson Máire Ní Mhurchú told TDs and senators that while building more homes is the solution to the housing crisis, rural families whose income includes their short-term rental properties must not be “punished” under proposed new laws.