Galway City Council will write to the Advertising Standards Authority to complain that short-term rental properties in Rent Pressure Zones are in breach of their planning permission and should be removed from the likes of Airbnb.

Green Party Councillor Niall Murphy told a meeting of Galway City Council that there had been regulations in place to restrict such short-term lets in the RPZs since 2019, but enforcement has been weak due a lack of staff in the local authority.

Difficulties identifying owners and a lack of resources had meant that landlords have been able to ignore the rules and carry on business as normal.

While further legislation is on the way that will lead to Fáilte Ireland maintaining a register of properties, it has been repeatedly delayed.

“The Advertising Standards Authority can pressure Airbnb to see if a property has planning permission and is within the limit,” said Cllr Murphy.

Properties advertised within RPZs, which are let for more than 90 days, are breaking the law.

Councillor Niall McNelis (Lab) said the motion shouldn’t be specific to Airbnb as there were multiple letting platforms advertising properties in Galway.

While he agreed with the spirit of the motion, he said policing the amount of days landlords were letting properties out was “exceptionally difficult”.

Cllr Murphy said he understood that complaints had to mention specifically the platform where adverts were placed.

The only voice of disagreement came from Cllr Noel Larkin (Ind) who said he did not agree with dictating to property owners what they could and could not do with their properties.

Cllr Eddie Hoare (FG) tabled an amendment to remove reference to Airbnb and instead ask them to complain about short-term letting platforms.

It passed by 15 votes to 1.

After the meeting, Cllr Murphy said letting platforms should be pressurised into refusing to carry those adverts in breach of the regulations.

“While there is a place in the market for short term-letting platforms such as Airbnb, they have to operate within the current regulations. Many of the customers on such well-known platforms would not be aware that the advert they are answering is actually in breach of the law,” he said.