John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It looks as if it is undefined. The other concern I have is that the old system caused the problem in that the first increase could be more than 4% because it was a two year period. Now, the Minister has changed it so it is annual, which will ensure that a landlord will definitely, at the end of 12 months, put the rent up because if he waits 16 months, he is still restricted to the 4%. Therefore, the Minister is actually insisting on a 12 monthly review. Not all landlords do that at the moment but they will not want to wait because, once the 12 month period is gone, the rate of increase is capped at 4%. While that may be an unintended consequence, I would like an explanation of where in the legislation it is controlled so it can only be once a year.

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