Enda Kenny urged to tackle soaring rents as monthly average exceeds €1,000

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been urged to immediately address spiraling residential rental market prices in response to revelations the cost of finding a home has now reached its highest-ever recorded rate.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin insisted on fresh emergency steps to tackle the problem after a new property market report found average rents are up at least 12% since last year throughout Dublin and its sprawling commuter belt.

Mr Martin, during Leaders Questions in the Dáil, said it was time to resolve the “crisis in the rental market” as it was leading to a breakdown in social cohesion and “exacerbating the homelessness crisis”.

He said a recent Daft.ie report found the average monthly rent across Ireland is now €1,077, the highest since the website began recording levels in 2002. With an 11.7% national rise since 2016, the opposition leader said action was needed now.

Criticising failures to tackle the issue to date, Mr Martin warned the “impact of this is quite stark” and pointed to surging homelessness rates and the fact mortgage repayments now cost less than rent, despite the fact mortgages were unattainable for many families.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny told Mr Martin long-sought rent certainty measures may not be included in an upcoming plan to tackle the issue which is expected to focus on security for landlords and tenants, supply of homes and improving rental property standards.

Mr Kenny said “there is no doubt this is a problem and it’s a serious problem”, accepting the huge pressure in the rental market.

However, as Mr Martin attempted to blame the Government, Mr Kenny said the responsibility lay with the legacy of Fianna Fáil’s time in power.

“Priory Hall, pyrite, ghost estates, that’s why it happened.

“We had a tánaiste [during the Fianna Fáil era] who stood over here and said there would be no need for more taxes because housing construction was going to drive it,” the Taoiseach said.

Meanwhile, Mr Kenny has come under renewed pressure to scrap the Lansdowne Road public pay deal and replace it with a more progressive agreement.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin said the “industrial unrest” from teachers, gardaí and nurses confirmed the current deal was “no longer tenable”.

However, Mr Kenny said while problems exist in the agreement, it will remain in place, noting ex-public expenditure minister Mr Howlin “seems to have reversed engines on this matter”.