Taoiseach dismisses Labour’s rent plans

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has dismissed Labour’s ambitions to control rising rents and signalled that the Government is anxious about interfering with landlords and the property market.

In a slapdown of Environment Minister Alan Kelly’s hopes to set rents in line with inflation, the Fine Gael leader warned that the wrong interference in the market is “not something we should do”.

His comments came after the Coalition failed to agree on rent certainty measures for the budget, after disagreement between Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Mr Kelly.