A WEST Cork councillor has highlighted the plight of self-catering providers across the county who fear they will be put out of business if they are lumped in with airbnbs.
Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) was speaking at a recent meeting of the local authority and flagged legislation that’s coming in Autumn that will be affect the Irish self- catering federation in relation to rent pressure zones.
‘These self-catering people fear that they will be lumped in with Airbnbs and this is a disgrace. These people run very successful businesses especially in West Cork such as Cottages for Couples near Skibbereen,’ said Cllr Carroll.
‘These businesses employ a lot of people and bring a lot of money into the area and they fear they will go out of business if they are categorised in the planning category as short-term lets.’
He called on the council to write to the Minister concerned to ensure that self-catering providers are not lumped in withAirbnbs.
His colleague Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy supported his call and pointed out that if there are no place to stay in West Cork then there will be no visitors coming into the area.
‘There will be no money spent and the economic activity is down and if you are going to hinder these peoples’ businesses it will have a huge impact on the tourism economy of West Cork,’ said Cllr Murphy.
Meanwhile, the Irish Self Catering Federation (ISCF) said that the Government’s approach to regulating STRs (Short Term Rentals) by extending rent pressure zones (RPZs) may lead to the closure of many self-catering businesses, particularly SMEs.
‘The individual small business is being scapegoated again. Self catering is not the cause or solution to the housing crisis, we are being scapegoated for Government inaction,’ said Maire Ní Mhurchú, CEO of the ISCF.
