Danny Healy-Rae warns Airbnb curbs will hit Kerry tourism

I'm not a member of the committee, but I have a real interest and I'm very concerned about how this will impact my county of Kerry that I'm representing, and especially around Killarney, which is, I call, the headquarters of tourism in Ireland, and it's going to impact. We have hundreds of people and have been operating Airbnbs for a long time, and I'm very concerned about if they have to go out of business or if they're forced out of business. I'm very concerned for their well-being mentally, financially, and every other way, because I was brought up in a house, political house, where it was made very clear to me that if we want to help one person or one side of the community, that you do not adversely impact on the other side or the other person. In other words, you can't put someone up by putting another person down. And this, to me, is being brought forward because of the lack of housing and long-term needs to be had around the country and in Kerry and the other 25 countries that we have in the Republic of Ireland. And I suppose the first question that I have, there are many people at this in Kerry and around Killarney for more than 20 years. And, no, maybe they don't have official planning, but they're at it for more than seven years. And my question is, do they, do these people have planning by default, the fact that they're at it for more than seven years? So maybe somebody would answer me that. Thank you, Deputy Healy Ray. So my understanding, and again, this is a policy matter for the Department of Housing, but somebody can't achieve planning by default, I think. As I understand, planning has to be achieved by an application to your local planning authority, and they have to approve it. So there won't be, I suppose, a default mechanism in place for people who have been operating in the system for a long time. Well, it's very clear to me that these people have been doing this for many years, and they shouldn't have to apply for planning, and that's my contention, that's their contention, and this will be tested in whatever court it takes to decide the matter, because they feel they're being hard done by. That contribution to the local economy is massive. And when you consider for a time in Kerry that 36% of our beds in hotels was taken up by massive. And when you consider for a time in Kerry that 36% of our beds in hotels was taken up by refugees and asylum seekers, a lot of them are still used in that field, not the same amount, I will admit. But we'll seriously damage our tourism product in the county of Kerry, and especially around Killarney, and at the same time we're affecting the Ring of Kerry and all the tourism spots. If you don't have the footfall that emanates from these Airbnbs and so forth, Republicans, restaurants, boatmen, ponymen, Jarvis, the whole lot, they will all be impacted adversely. I'm seriously concerned about that. I suppose you're not the ones to ask about this, but the government should seriously consider the implications that this will have all around the county of Kerry. And, I mean, you're saying there that they can't have planning by default. Well, I know, and anyone that's in politics for a long time knows that if you're at something for more than seven years, you can't be touched, you can't be taken to court, or you can't be made do anything. So, I'm asking you to seriously consider what I'm saying, because, and, you see, the answer, you're talking about the enforcement and the local authorities, and that they will manage this. The local authorities are stretched to their limit to do what they're doing, and I don't think there will be any more officers delegated to them, and I would, if there was to be extra personnel, I would rather see them building more houses. I'm asking for that for the last number of days here. Let the local authorities build more houses. And there's empty houses around the place, and so many of them. Would the government and the department look at these as an option to secure long-term leases? And the other thing that I said, if he thinks that putting these people out of business, and that he'll get them to rent long-term to other tenants, and that they wouldn't be able to get them out when they want to get them out on all this, and maybe not get paid when they should be paying, and all the other adverse things, if he thinks that that's going to happen, and that he's going to achieve houses for long-term lease, I think you need to look at that again. And I'm wondering if you have any comment to make about that. I do. Thank you very much, Dr. Healy-Rae. So, on your first comments about the contracted state accommodation in hotels in Kerry, so at its heights in May 2023, 11% of hotel beds in Kerry were contracted to the state for accommodation provision for humanitarian purposes. That reduced the following year to 9%, and it's now at 5%. In terms of the short-term letting and other hotel capacity in Kerry, so the number of short-term letting beds in entire houses and apartments in Kerry is 16,600. And at a maximum, they're occupied 27% of the time when we look at the 2024 data. So, that's, you know, under occupancy there of about 70% in those properties. And in some cases, in January, it was 3%, February 5%. If we go then to the further end of the year, November and December, the occupancy rates were just 5% and 6%. So, those properties were vacant then for quite a length of time throughout the year. If we look at the number of hotel accommodations, then overall, the bed spaces in Kerry, there's 38,650. And these are really important in terms of that accommodation provision to support what is a very vibrant tourist industry in Kerry. And we know that of those, the 16,000 would have been used 27% of the time, but the hotel accommodation is generally available all of the time. So, it's, it's, it's, it's, in terms of that, it's, it's a better supply element. And, and of course, there... I'm afraid, I'm so sorry, Deputy Healy Ray, but I can't... I just have to say, Chairman, I've been kidding you for seriously with the figures that are happening in Michigan here. The most of the time that we were, had only 9% of our hotels involved with refugees and asylum seekers. That's totally incorrect. The figure was 36%. And I don't know whether we got your figures, I know someone gave them to, but that's, that's not what was reality down in Kerry at the time when the, the, the, the Ukraine started coming there and the other asylum seekers. I have to bring it to you all, we've nearly 70%, 7-0. It's shocking. But I appreciate your remarks and you're very welcome here today.