Government accused of 'incompetence' as just 154k apply for rent tax credit

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the €500 rent tax credit was too low and 'appears to have been plucked from thin air'. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins 

Just 154,000 renters have availed of the much-heralded rent tax credit announced in last year's budget.

Some 400,000 people are eligible and the low uptake has been blasted as "Government incompetence" by the Labour Party.