Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I will not go back into all of the details. I suppose I am getting a better understanding of how we could progress this in the future. On the anomalies I identified earlier, does the Department agree that these are plausible anomalies that could be addressed in the future? For example, Greystones has the highest rents in Wicklow but is not in a rental pressure zone because it did not tick two boxes. In fact, that was due to a high rise in rent in 2013 and 2014.

Another little bit of local knowledge coming through is that Arklow has been left out of it. Locally, we have seen significant increases in rents because landlords are worried that they will end up being in a rental pressure zone and are taking the opportunity to increase rents substantially.

There is a review process in June. Would the Department recommend any changes to the criteria that are being used that would allow for towns - for example, Maynooth and Blessington where there are rent pressures but, because of the LEA, they cannot tick both boxes - to qualify?

I suppose we need to get to where we are going. Overall, this has to be seen as a positive for renters out there. It is trying to deal with the anomalies that we are identifying and how best to address them in the future. In Wicklow, a commuter belt, there are such anomalies beginning to raise their heads, as we have identified.