Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Why can the Government not do more to help renters? There have been serious rises in the cost of renting in Ireland. Average monthly rents stand at €1,415 and at €2,000 in Dublin. That is an unaffordable chunk of take-home pay for many renters. The issue is lack of regulation and lack of supply. We in the Labour Party previously brought forward a Bill to restrict the use of companies like Airbnb for short-term lets. We are asking the Government to take more urgent action to ensure such short-term lets will not outstrip the supply of long-term lets. Research and analysis by my colleague Senator Rebecca Moynihan has shown that, at a given time in March in nearly every county in Ireland, there were more properties advertised for short-term rental on Airbnb and other sites than on daft.iefor long-term rental. In a total of 11 counties, local authorities took no action against this practice of short-term rentals last year. We need greater supply and we need renters to get a break.

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