S.I. No. 279/2026 - Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 (Qualifications) Regulations 2026

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 23rd June, 2026.

The Property Services Regulatory Authority, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by section 95 of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 (No. 40 of 2011) (as adapted by the Property Services (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2025 ( S.I. No. 392 of 2025 ), with the consent of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, hereby makes the following regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 (Qualifications) Regulations 2026.

(2) These Regulations come into operation on 1 July 2028.

Definitions

2. In these Regulations —

“Act” means the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 (No.40 of 2011);

“awarding body” has the meaning given to it in section 2 of the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act 1999 (No. 26 of 1999);

“ECTS” means the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, being the credit system for higher education used in the European Higher Education Area;

“equivalent”, in relation to any matter outside the State, means equivalent in the opinion of the Authority;

“General System” means the system for assessing the equivalency of qualifications, which is contained in Title III, Chapter I of the Professional Qualifications Directive and Part 5 of the Professional Qualifications Regulations;

“minimum qualification requirements”, in relation to an application for a licence, means—

(a) the applicant has successfully completed a course(s) of studies which has led to the awarding to him or her, by a nationally recognised awarding body or awarding bodies, of a qualification at level 6 or higher of the National Framework of Qualifications, the applicant having attained 120 ECTS credits calculated by adding together the number of credits received for subject areas specified in Column 1 of the relevant table in the Schedule relating to the licence category or categories for which the application has been submitted, which credits shall not, for the purpose of calculating the number of ECTS required under this subparagraph, be less than the minimum number or greater than the maximum number of credits in Column 2 of the relevant table in the Schedule relating to the licence category or categories for which the application has been submitted,

(b) the applicant has, in another jurisdiction, in respect of the subject areas specified in the Schedule, successfully completed a course or courses of studies which has led to the awarding to him or her, by a body or bodies in that jurisdiction that is or are equivalent to a nationally recognised awarding body or awarding bodies, credits, under a framework in that jurisdiction that is equivalent to the National Framework of Qualifications, equivalent to those required under subparagraph (a),

(c) the applicant has lawfully engaged in the provision of the property service for which he or she is seeking the licence for periods amounting together to not less than—

(i) 3 years of the 10 year period immediately preceding the making of the application, where the service was provided in the State, or

(ii) 3 years of the 5 year period immediately preceding the making of application, where the service was provided outside the State, or

(d) the applicant has such other qualifications or experience, or both, which, although not falling (or fully falling) within subparagraph (a), (b) or (c), satisfies the Authority that the applicant is suitable to provide the property service for which he or she is seeking the licence;

“Professional Qualifications Directive” means Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005¹ as amended by Council Directive 2006/100/EC of 20 November 2006² , Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1430/2007 of 5 December 2007³ , Commission Regulation (EC) No.755/2008 of 31 July 2008⁴ , Regulation (EC) No. 1137/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008⁵ , Commission Regulation (EC) No. 279/2009 of 6 April 2009⁶ , Commission Regulation (EU) No.213/2011 of 3 March 2011⁷ , Act concerning the accession of the Republic of Croatia⁸ , Commission Regulation (EU) No. 623/2012 of 11 July 2012⁹ , Council Directive 2013/25/EU of 13 May 2013¹⁰ and, other than in the case of an applicant whose home member state is Switzerland, Directive 2013/55/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013¹¹ ;

“Professional Qualifications Regulations” means the European Union (Recognition of Professional Qualifications) Regulations 2017 ( S.I. No. 8 of 2017 ).

Qualification requirements

3. (1) For the purposes of establishing the required levels of education, training and experience referred to in section 30(2)(a) of the Act, an application for a licence shall be accompanied by evidence acceptable to the Authority that—

(a) in the case of an application for a property services employer licence under the Act, where the applicant is a body corporate or partnership, a principal officer of the applicant falls within the definition of “minimum qualification requirements” in Regulation 2, and

(b) in any other case, the applicant falls within the definition of “minimum qualification requirements” in Regulation 2.

(2) The Authority shall assess applications coming under the Professional Qualifications Directive and the Professional Qualifications Regulations in accordance with the General System.

Evidence of qualifications

4. The evidence that the minimum qualification requirements have been attained shall be—

(a) in the case of a body corporate or partnership—

(i) if paragraph (a) of the definition of “minimum qualification requirements” in Regulation 2 applies, a letter or certificate from an awarding body certifying that a principal officer of the body corporate or partnership has been awarded the credits referred to in that paragraph,

(ii) if paragraph (b) of the definition of “minimum qualification requirements” in Regulation 2 applies, a letter or certificate from a body referred to in that paragraph that is, in respect of a principal officer of the body corporate or partnership, equivalent to a letter or certificate referred to in subparagraph (i),

(iii) if paragraph (c) of the definition of “minimum qualification requirements” in Regulation 2 applies, evidence which satisfies the Authority that a principal officer of the body corporate or partnership falls within that paragraph,

(iv) if paragraph (d) of the definition of “minimum qualification requirements” in Regulation 2 applies, evidence which satisfies the Authority, as mentioned in that paragraph, in respect of a principal officer of the body corporate or partnership, and

(v) in any case, other evidence which the Authority considers sufficient to satisfy it that a principal officer of the body corporate or partnership has attained the minimum qualification requirements,

and

(b) in the case of an individual—

(i) if paragraph (a) of the definition of “minimum qualification requirements” in Regulation 2 applies, a letter or certificate from an awarding body certifying that the individual has been awarded the credits referred to in that paragraph,

(ii) if paragraph (b) of the definition of “minimum qualification requirements” in Regulation 2 applies, a letter or certificate from a body referred to in that paragraph that is, in respect of that individual, equivalent to a letter or certificate referred to in subparagraph (i),

(iii) if paragraph (c) of the definition of “minimum qualification requirements” in Regulation 2 applies, evidence which satisfies the Authority that that individual falls within that paragraph,

(iv) if paragraph (d) of the definition of “minimum qualification requirements” in Regulation 2 applies, evidence which satisfies the Authority, as mentioned in that paragraph, in respect of that individual, and

(v) in any case, other evidence which the Authority considers sufficient to satisfy it that that individual has attained the minimum qualification requirements.

Revocations and transitional arrangements

5. (1) The Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 (Qualifications) Regulations 2012 ( S.I. No. 181 of 2012 ) and the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 (Qualifications) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 ( S.I. No. 456 of 2015 ) are revoked.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), where an application for a licence has been received by the Authority prior to the coming into operation of these Regulations but not yet determined by it, the provisions of the Regulations referred to in paragraph (1) shall continue to apply to such application as if such Regulations had not been revoked.

Schedule

SUBJECT AREAS FOR PURPOSES OF PARAGRAPHS (a) AND (b) OF DEFINITION OF “MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS” IN REGULATION 2

1. Subject to paragraph 2, details of the subjects and the associated credits, or their equivalents in another jurisdiction, which satisfy the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) of the definition of “minimum qualification requirements” in Regulation 2 are specified in Tables 1 to 4 below.

Table 1

Licence Category A – Auction of Property other than Land

Table 2

Licence Categories B and C – Purchase/Sale and Letting of Land

Table 3

Licence Category D – Property Management Services

Table 4

Licence Categories A, B, C and D – All four Licence Categories

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage consents to the making of the foregoing Regulations.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

17 June, 2026.

JAMES BROWNE,

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

GIVEN under the Seal of the Property Services Regulatory Authority

17 June 2026.

MAEVE HOGAN,

Chief Executive, Property Services Regulatory Authority

MICHAEL QUINLAN,

Chairperson, Property Services Regulatory Authority

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations revoke the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 (Qualifications) Regulations 2012 ( S.I. No. 181 of 2012 ) and the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 (Qualifications) (Amendments) Regulations 2015 ( S.I. No. 456 of 2015 ). They specify the minimum qualifications required in order to be eligible for the grant of a licence to provide property services under the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 .

1 OJ No. L 255, 30.9.2005, p. 22

2 OJ No. L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 141.

3 OJ No. L 320, 6.12.2007, p. 3

4 OJ No. L 205, 1.8.2008, p. 10.

5 OJ No. L 311, 21.11.2008, p. 1.

6 OJ No. L 93, 7.4.2009, p. 11.

7 OJ No. L 59, 4.3.2011, p. 4.

8 OJ No. L 112, 24.4.2012, p. 6.

9 OJ No. L 180, 12.7.2012, p. 9

10 OJ No. L 158, 10.6.2013, p. 368

11 OJ No. L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 132.