*Donna McGettigan TD (SF).
CLARE TD, Donna McGettigan (SF) has labelled average rental prices in Clare as abnormal.
A new report from the State’s Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) show an increase of average rents for new tenancies nationally by 5.5% annually to €1,696 in the first three months of the year. Average rents rose by 4.4% for existing tenants to €1,452.
In Clare, renters in new tenancies in Clare are now paying €1,118 more in rent per year, an increase of 0.2% compared to last year. This is the sixth lowest of counties in the Republic of Ireland.
For the first quarter of this year, the standardised average rent in Clare is €968. On an annualised basis, the lowest growth in the standardised average rent in new tenancies.
However Clare is one of seven counties where the year-on-year growth in standardised average rent in existing tenancies was higher than that for new tenancies in the first quarter of 2025 alongside Dublin, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo,
Westmeath, and Wexford. Most of these counties saw high new tenancy annual rental growth in the first quarter of 2024 which appears to have fed into their existing tenancies index figures for the same timeframe in 2025.
Dublin saw its lowest new tenancy growth rate since 2022 at 3.3% but Donegal, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Limerick, Monaghan, Roscommon and Tipperary saw new tenancy rent increases of more than 10%.
The report detailed, “For the period covered in this report, Q1 2025, the domestic economy was characterised by ongoing robustness and expansion, but faced into increased global uncertainty, with changes to US economic policy likely to impact on Ireland’s future economic performance. Q1 2025 was characterised by the strength of labour market performance and slowed but persistent growth in the domestic Irish economy, as measured by modified domestic demand (MDD). Consumption and MDD remained positive in Q1 2025, although the year-on-year increase for the latter was somewhat reduced compared to previous quarters. Inflation remained moderate, with a slight uptick in the CPI in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the very low levels seen at the end of 2024”.
Deputy McGettigan has called for a ban on rental increases for three years. “An average rent of €1,118 in Clare is not normal. The latest RTB figures show that rents for new tenants in Clare rose by 0.2% in the last 12 months and 3.9% for existing tenants. This means that renters in Clare are now paying €13,416 more a year in rent because of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It’s a rip-off.
“Once again, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are making life harder for renters, who now have even higher rents and even greater insecurity. How are regular working people expected to afford these rents? How are they supposed to save for a deposit to buy a home? It doesn’t have to be this way. This can be sorted. We need to cut rents and ban increases for three years. We need to give young people a chance,” she added.
