Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It would not have made any difference in this case if we had decided to link the limitations on rent increases in rent pressure zones to the consumer price index, rather than setting a 4% limit as we have done. When we were drawing up the criteria to be used to determine whether an area would qualify to be designated as a rent pressure zone, we moved away from the process of assessing on the basis of local authority areas because that was far too broad. We were aware that the use of local authority areas would have an unfair impact on towns as it would lead to rural areas bringing down the averages. For that reason, we tried to find a much more granular, targeted and localised way of assessing rents in certain areas. We decided that the only way this could be done was by using local electoral areas. I do not doubt that people in Navan, Maynooth, Greystones and Drogheda feel that those towns should be rent pressure zones. They would like them to be designated as such. Tenants in certain areas like to know that their landlords cannot increase their rents by more than 4% per annum. I have to make decisions on the basis of the data and the criteria we set out in the legislation. We decided on those criteria for a reason.

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