Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) has submitted a motion calling on the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) to lobby for the regulation of Airbnb amid an ongoing housing crisis.
The motion will be considered at USI’s national council taking place today, with students’ union officers from around the country present.
If the motion passes, USI will be mandated to lobby for “the Government to introduce further regulation of this sector in line with that employed in Berlin in order to increase the availability of housing”.
In an email statement to The University Times, TCDSU President Shane De Rís said that the union brought the motion to “highlight just one of the many factors adding to the congestion crisis in the Dublin rental market”.
“Right now there is 3,165 entire houses available to let on AirBnB. These are houses which could provide families, students and everyone else with shelter”, he said.
De Rís condemned the “prioritisation of tourists over those in need”. The motion referred to other cities, including Berlin and Amsterdam, that have introduced regulations to increase the availability of housing. “It is time Ireland followed suit”, De Rís said.
For years Dublin and other Irish cities have been facing an ever-worsening accommodation crisis. The lack of availability of accommodation for students has given rise to high-cost private purpose-built student accommodation.
Recently, students have focused in on the housing crisis and how to tackle it, with members of Take Back Trinity joining occupations and protests denouncing the lack of affordable housing in Dublin.
