Platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com could be hit with fines worth millions of euro under new short-term letting rules.
The rules are due to kick in in May 2026, and a new register will be set up for all short-term lets in Ireland.
It will be managed by Fáilte Ireland, allowing the body to monitor online platforms to ensure property owners are complying and councils to check if there are valid planning permissions.
This will effectively ban short-term lets in cities and urban areas because planning permission applications will be refused for those in areas with populations above 10,000, The Irish Times reported.
Anyone offering accommodation for periods of up to and including 21 nights will have to be registered.
Online platforms, such as Airbnb, will could face hefty fines for listing properties that do not have a valid registration number – with penalties of up to two per cent of their annual income.
The new legislation, the General Scheme of the…