:
Ireland: Airbnb is encouraging Irish housing minister Darragh O’Brien to introduce “fair and proportionate” regulations for short-term rentals in Ireland.
Historically, Airbnb has been met with criticism in Ireland, and around the world, for being perceived to increase rent costs and hold unfair advantages in competition with local businesses, due to differing levels of scrutiny and regulation.
The home-sharing platform has attempted to refute these criticisms by asserting that the short-term rental sector will be crucial in the Irish post-pandemic recovery, as it is a fundamental part of the Irish tourism industry.
Current regulations in Ireland require that those who wish to rent out their property on a short-term rental platform for more than 90 days per year must register for an exemption with local authorities.
Last year, O’Brien confirmed an interest in purchasing empty Airbnbs as part of the Irish government’s July Stimulus package, in a bid to increase available housing stock in the country.
However, recently, opposition TDs [Teachtaà Dála, from the lower house of the Irish Parliament] have been calling for stricter regulations on Airbnb and other rental platforms.
In response to calls for stricter regulation, Airbnb cited data from Oxford Economics’ research, which shows that Airbnb contributed a gross value of €321 million and supported 3,400 jobs in Dublin in 2019. Guests who stayed in Airbnb listings also supported local retail, dining, and more.
While in May, Airbnb’s public policy lead, Jean Hoey, wrote to O’Brien, asking to discuss future sector regulations. In the letter, Hoey said that the numbers from Dublin in 2019 offered “significant hope for what recovery might look like in late 2021 and into 2022 in the city and beyond”.
Hoey said: “Any post-pandemic rebuilding of the Irish economy will in part be achieved by rebuilding our tourism sector — and as such, having an adequate supply of short-term accommodation available for tourism is vitally important. As a key stakeholder, we are keen to work with you in relation to the introduction of fair and proportionate short-term letting regulations and have had positive engagement with your department officials in this regard.
“Through our community-based hosts, Airbnb is greatly looking forward to playing our part in helping re-establish Ireland’s national and regional tourism sector, and we look forward to continuing to engage with your officials in the coming weeks and months on all the relevant issues,” she added.
