Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Rents in Ireland are high, particularly in Dublin, and they have increased considerably over the past couple of years. They fell quite a lot during the recession and have increased very much over the past couple of years. Nonetheless, while it may come as a surprise to the Deputy, people are paying them. There are few vacant rental properties because people will not pay these rents; the reverse is the case. We do not have enough rental properties available for people to rent. The legislation the Government has brought in is intended to contain the increases in rents in order that people do not face double digit or significant hikes if they live in rent pressure zones, RPZs. According to the statistic produced by the Residential Tenancies Board most recently, average rents increased by just over 1% in the previous quarter. Rents had been increasing at a high rate. In 2016, for example, rents in Dublin increased by 8%. However, the average increase was in the region of 5% for 2017, with an increase of 1.1% in the final quarter. The rent controls for the RPZs that were brought in more than a year ago are working and are having an effect in containing and reducing the increases in people's rent.

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