Joint Committee on Enterprise Tourism and Employment
Opening Statement by Derek Keogh, Chairperson 18/2/2026
Introduction
“We want every community, from urban centres to rural heartlands, to benefit from tourism’s growth and ensure Ireland is the best location to visit in Europe “
A quote from the Minister of Tourism Peter Burke that should be to the foremost in everyone’s minds when scrutinising the STTL bill.
The problem with the current STTL bill is that the planning stipulation or more specifically the enforcement of current building regulations will close down rural tourism. The analogy I use, is that as a sector we are being herded off the Cliffs of Moher and assured that the Government will issue a safety net in the form of planning guidelines before the industry crashes onto the rocks below.
Planning Departments (which are currently understaffed by 550 people) are ill equipped to cater for an influx of applications should they arise and that any volume of applications, will only detract local planners from the more serious matters in hand. In addition, the timeframe to have all the above in place before 20 May 2026 is equally unachievable.
STTL Bill is Enforceable but Unworkable
Many of the alleged 35,400 STR’s include properties will never be suitable for the long-term rental market for a variety of reasons , location , size of the property , the quirky nature of the tourist offering such as shepherds huts , the inability to provide the facilities required by HAP as a long term let , personal/family use, converted outhouses / garage on the grounds of a person’s PPR , all of these will never go into the long term market but equally will struggle to comply with building regulations attached by going through the current planning process. These properties were never going to be suitable for the long-term market but will be lost forever from the tourist stock.
National Quality Assurance Framework
The National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF) is the Failte Ireland Quality Assurance mark granted to approved self-catering properties throughout Ireland. 78% of these are located outside the 5 main cities. There were 4,727 properties which held this mark at the latest figures issued June 2025. These are the people who offer the “ Cead Mile Failte “ on our nations behalf , these are people who open up their homes and hearts to welcome visitors , these are the people who meet and greet their guests , these are the people who are genuine tourist accommodation providers and are already Quality Approved by a State Body ; they are not urban lockbox landlords and they deserve recognition for their efforts.
I appreciate that the housing crises is the number one issue facing the current Government, the ISCF have been calling for the implementation of the register for years to regulate the sector.
Supporting SME Tourism Businesses
“We need to support SME’s so that the burden of doing business isn’t unproportionate“ Ministe for Tourism Peter Burke TD.
The STTL bill require all STR’s to be planning compliant prior to the introduction of the register in 3 months’ time. Officials have advised us that the simple “change of use “will be treated as a new planning application but have as yet, not produced planning guidelines, a National Planning Statement or decoupled STR’s from the RPZ’s.
The costs associated with requiring any property particularly a pre ’63 buildings to comply with current day building regulations will be an insurmountable barrier for existing SMEs to continue operating. A recent cost of complying with current building regulations without any structural changes was €125,000. The OTA Airbnb have previously stated that the Average Income of their hosts is in the region of €9,000 per annum. You do the maths, this is why the STTL bill in its current format is (EBU) Enforceable but Unworkable.
Our Solution – TALS
The only practical viable solution within the stipulated timeframes continues to be the introduction of exemptions whether that be by population size, property location, Quality Assurance, Grandfather rule, extending the B&B exemption to STR’s on your PPR and farm diversification projects.
Going forward, any change of use for new entrants to the market, should be for change of use to a residential property with commercial use to facilitate residential buyers when these properties come onto the market. We call this new classification a Tourist Accommodation Let (TAL’s). I appreciate that the housing crises is the number one issue facing the current Government, we have been calling for the implementation of the register for years to regulate the sector, but it is possible to deliver both the needs of Tourism and Housing.
Twin Track Approach
This can be done using a twin track approach to ensure that the focus of exemptions is on tourist hotspots and rural Ireland. This positive legislation will protect and enhance our rural offering, allow the industry to achieve the targeted tourist growth and return residential housing to the large urban centres.
This is because the same exemptions will not apply to large urban centres, i.e. areas where it is proven to be economically viable to build further hotels. To protect urban tourist hotspots, designated areas within these large cities can be zoned as suitable for STR tourism e.g. Sheriff Street or Temple Bar and anywhere outside of these areas in the large cities would be required to apply for the “change of use “ .
Targeted exemptions will deliver former residential houses back into the long-term housing market in urban centres without causing irreparable damage to the rural economy.
Our suggestion is to create a separate class of properties, TAL’s: Tourist Accommodation Lets, this is for existing STR’s that do not conform to current building regulations because they do not possess the “A” BER rating required for a planning application.
Govt officials will have to legislate to introduce the same, but in doing so they can set the rules and not be shoehorned into trying to fit into existing legislation which was neither fit for industry purpose or designed to accommodate the nuances required to satisfy rural Tourism. Dept officials have previously advised us that current building regulations will be applied.
Adherence to current building regulations will be too onerous on existing operators. Prohibitive costs such as the €11k for full planning application required for a simple of change of use application or €125k cost associated with achieving that elusive BER “A” rated building need to be re-examined.
On this basis, I propose the following exemptions to apply within the current Planning system.
They are easy to comprehend and will deliver in a fair and reasonable result for all concerned. Government have already indicated that the default position is that existing tourist accommodation providers in areas with a population under 20,000 as per CSO Mapping will have two years to regularise their planning status. Please note that as per Census 2022, only 27% of our population live in towns between 500 and 20,000 people.
National Planning Framework for STR
In the national planning framework, we like the following:
• Population under 20,000 – An Exemption from any planning requirement for change of use will be granted for existing tourist accommodation providers in areas with a population under 20,000 as per the CSO Mapping.
• Grandfather Rule -Exemption from any planning requirement for change of use under the Grandfather rule for existing properties operating over 7 years.
• NQAF Properties – Exemption from any planning requirement for change of use for any NQAF properties (either with the ISCF or failte Ireland).
• PPR Residence – Exemption from any planning requirement for change of use for an STR’s on same folio as your Principal Private Residence (PPR)
• We would recommend that a separate Tourist Accommodation Let status (TAL’s) be attached to residential planning to avoid mix use residential/commercial on a person’s PPR.
• Extend the B&B planning, Extend the B&B use that is exempt under present planning regulations (Article 10(4)) to all short-term rentals on the lands attached to the persons principal private residence.
• Farming Diversification & Regenerative tourism– Farmers/ agritourism are given an exemption from planning when offering self-catering on properties and/or farm buildings located on their farm. – Grant exemption to 31/12/2028 to facilitate regenerative tourismto any property owner who brings existing structure on land back into use, in a rural are
• Thatch Cottages – Thatched houses should be exempt from planning for use as STR if theyalready exist as thatch cottages.
• Heritage properties from small houses to large castles – Treating them under the same planning regime as high-density, high-turnover city rentals threatens their viability and does not support balanced regional development.
Conclusion
Once the councils have a listing of the all the STR’s from the register, they can then evaluate any application against criteria laid out in planning guidelines and we propose that designated areas in large urban areas create tourist quarters to facilitate the existing demand in larger cities.
We encourage the committee to incorporate the Exemptions into your recommendations to ensure that the twin goals of protecting rural tourism and delivering housing in large urban areas can both occur…. The ability to legislate for this is in your hands.
Link to CEO Máire Ní Mhurchú Opening Statment
Link to Statment of Lisa Argue, G.M DreamIreland.com Marketing Agents, Ireland.
Link to Statment of Tomas o Keeffe, Suir Valley Cottage owner and Dairy Farmer.
Link To Fiona McConnacher Booking.com Opening Statment
Link to ISCF Press Release 20/2/2026
Need More Information?
Contact us: Send an email to info@iscf.ie, and we’ll be happy to assist you.