A chara, – Further to “Q&A: Will new rules bring short-term rentals back onto the long-term market?” (April 3rd), the Irish Self-Catering Federation has represented Irish families and their livelihoods throughout Ireland for the past 21 years. Our members have been providing self-catering accommodation to Irish holidaymakers and tourists for many years. We have been calling for a register for self-catering holiday homes since 2017 and have been working with the Department of Tourism, Fáilte Ireland and at EU level to develop a sector we know can provide value and choice to the consumer when they decide to book their holidays.
The situation at the moment is untenable.
Sweeping rules and regulations aimed at tackling short-term rental units in urban areas have resulted in disastrous consequences for the local economies of rural Ireland and tourist towns all across Ireland.
It has been shown by Fáilte Ireland that for every €1 spent on accommodation, €2.50 is spent in the local economy like cafés, restaurants, shops, local activity providers, local attractions, etc. Proposed legislation brought forth by the Irish Government was stopped in its tracks by Europe.
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This was because what was being proposed lacked transparency and fairness to our members.
We urge the Government to propose the much-needed guidelines for short-term letting in urban areas, rent pressure zones in tourist towns and rural areas and throughout rural Ireland. What is in place at the moment doesn’t work for anyone. – Yours, etc,
MÁIRE NÍ MHURCHÚ,
Chair,
Irish Self Catering
Federation,
Cork.