Ireland’s plans to launch a new national Short-Term Rental Register by the end of 2026 have reached a critical stage, with the industry warning that the timetable is extremely tight while key elements of the planning framework remain unclear.
The Irish Self Catering Federation (ISCF), which has supported the introduction of an STR register since 2017, argues in a new press release that registration itself is not the problem. Its main concern is the decision to link registration to retrospective planning requirements for existing self-catering businesses.
The ISCF’s latest intervention follows concerns recently raised with BnBNews by its CEO, Máire Ní Mhurchú, who warned that the proposed framework could force existing small and family-run self-catering businesses out of the market.
STR Register due to launch on December 1
According to the ISCF, Ireland’s Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment plans to launch the STR Register on December 1, 2026, with short-term rental accommodation across the country expected to be registered by the end of the month.
The Federation considers the timetable extremely ambitious, arguing that there is still no clarity over the final form of the legislation governing the Register, while the National Planning Statement for Short-Term Rentals remains in draft form.
The latter was published on June 16 and, according to the ISCF, is still undergoing assessment processes, including at EU level.
The Federation argues that small businesses could therefore find themselves having to demonstrate compliance with requirements that have yet to be fully clarified, and within an extremely limited timeframe.
What the 20,000 population threshold means
At the heart of the dispute is the way the proposed planning framework differentiates between locations according to population size.
According to the ISCF’s interpretation of the proposals, in towns with fewer than 20,000 residents, a simplified process would apply, with existing self-catering businesses given a two-year transition period to obtain the necessary planning permission.
The situation is considerably more complex in areas with more than 20,000 residents. According to the Federation, businesses in these locations would need to meet the required planning conditions in order to operate under the new regime.
Special provisions are proposed for businesses that have been continuously operating in the short-term rental market for at least seven years. However, the ISCF says local planning authorities have yet to receive sufficiently clear guidance from central government.
The Federation says applications for self-catering and glamping developments are already being refused in areas including Waterford, Kerry and Mayo.
28,903 STRs in Ireland – 32% are in Dublin
The figures cited by the ISCF on the actual size of Ireland’s short-term rental market are also significant.
According to Housing Agency figures cited by the Federation and based on online data scraping, Ireland has 28,903 short-term lets, of which 9,186, or 32%, are located in Dublin.
For the ISCF, this geographical distribution is crucial. The Federation argues that the government risks designing a nationwide tourism accommodation policy in response to a housing problem that is considerably more acute in the capital, without sufficiently taking into account the very different circumstances facing rural and coastal destinations.
This distinction lies at the heart of the ISCF’s argument. In many regional areas, self-catering properties do not necessarily compete with long-term housing but instead form an essential part of the local tourism accommodation supply.
Self-catering accounts for 40% of tourism bed capacity
The Federation also cites July 2026 data from Fáilte Ireland showing that self-catering is the second-largest provider of tourism bed capacity in Ireland, accounting for around 40% of the country’s available tourism accommodation, with a particularly strong presence in regional areas.
At the same time, the ISCF argues that insufficient research has been conducted into the economic value of self-catering in rural Ireland or the employment generated by the sector.
There is also a social dimension. According to the Federation, a significant proportion of small self-catering businesses are owned and operated by women, generating both income and employment in communities where alternative employment opportunities may be limited.
The problem of “ghost STR planning”
Another issue highlighted by the ISCF is what it describes as “ghost STR planning.”
The term refers to properties or developments that were originally built and granted planning permission for tourism use, often with the support of tax incentives in previous decades, but which are no longer operating as tourism accommodation.
According to the Federation, some of these properties are now being used for long-term rentals, as second homes, or under contracts with the State and local authorities, including accommodation for refugees.
The ISCF is therefore calling for an assessment of how these properties are actually being used, arguing that policymakers need an accurate picture of the number of tourism beds genuinely available before implementing the new rules.
“One rule for SMEs and another for large companies?”
The ISCF is particularly critical of what it sees as unequal treatment between small self-catering businesses and larger investments in the hotel sector.
The Federation points out that while existing small operators face retrospective planning requirements, new aparthotels and hotel suites continue to receive planning approval.
“Is there one rule for Irish SMEs and another for large companies?” the Federation asks.
The ISCF is also calling for a framework that allows new forms of tourism accommodation to be developed in regional Ireland, including agritourism properties, glamping accommodation, small retreats and the conversion of older buildings.
“We want a Register – but the rules must be workable”
Despite the strong tone of its intervention, the ISCF is not opposed to the registration of short-term rentals.
On the contrary, it reiterates that it has been calling for a national Register since 2017, arguing that reliable data is essential both for effective oversight and for evidence-based tourism and housing policy.
Its objection is to linking the Register to a planning system which, in the Federation’s view, is not yet ready to deal with the new requirements and could result in existing small businesses being forced to close by the end of 2026.
The Federation is calling for meaningful dialogue between the government, tourism representatives and the industry, as well as clear and workable guidance for local planning authorities.
Its central argument is that Ireland does need regulation and reliable STR data, but that policymakers should not treat an apartment in a high-pressure housing market in Dublin in the same way as a self-catering property that forms part of the tourism infrastructure of a small rural or coastal community.
