Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support both these amendments and I will add one additional point. We still have some anomalies because rent pressure zones are calculated on the basis of local electoral areas, LEAs, and data provided to the Minister by the Residential Tenancies Board. In a certain number of locations, such as Cork city and county, half an LEA is subject to very substantial rent increases and the other half is not and in many cases one half does not have much rental stock because it is more rural or county based. As a result, the rent pressure zone does not extend to the full LEA. We called many times for more granular data at district electoral division, DED, level to be the basis of such assessments and the Government ignored that. However, that would require a change of legislation so in the absence of that the only other alternative, given the rising rents outside the RPZs, is to ensure that whatever limited protections they provide apply to all renters in all counties.

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