Smith hits back at European Commission’s delay to Ireland’s Airbnb crackdown

A Dublin TD has blasted an “anti-democratic” delay to regulate Airbnb in this country.

People Before Profit’s Dublin European election candidate, Bríd Smith TD, has hit back at the European Commission’s delay to Ireland’s attempt to regulate the use of Airbnb and other short-term letting platforms.

The Short-Term Tourism Letting Bill, which would require required short-term lets to be registered, was submitted to the EU Commission on 21 December 2021 as required under an EU Directive.

The notification was only supposed to trigger a standstill period of three months, but the Commission demanded that this be extended further until 2023 as it was concerned with the effect the Bill would have on corporations like Airbnb and Booking.com.

“The government’s own figures suggest that this Bill would make an additional 12,000 rentals properties available,” Deputy Smith.

“We are living through a national housing emergency and instead of providing desperately needed housing this Government is more interested in kowtowing to EU bureaucrats and the excessive lobbying by multinationals like Airbnb and Booking.com who are lining their pockets as homeless figures increase on a daily basis.

“Why will this government not stand up to the EU?

“Bizarrely the EU claims that the Government has failed to ‘provide sufficient information and evidence to support” the need for market restrictions.

“This is absolute nonsense.

“Even the most cursory glance on Airbnb and Daft any day of the week will reveal why these restrictions are urgent: there are roughly 18,000 houses to rent in Dublin on Airbnb versus around 2000 on Daft.”

Deputy Smith went on to accuse the EU of being “in thrall” to big business.

“However, like this government, the EU are in thrall to corporate big businesses who profiteer from human misery,” she said.

“Meanwhile more than 4000 homeless children slept in cramped and unsuitable emergency accommodation last night; renters hand over more than half their wages to unscrupulous landlords and migrants are forced to sleep in tents in freezing temperatures.”