Seamus McGrath

Yeah, good morning, David.

Look, there's undoubtedly a linkage here.

And I think part of that linkage is the fact that in the run up to the 1st of March and the new rules kicking in, undoubtedly landlords in some instances were holding onto properties so that they could release those properties after the 1st of March and reset the rent.

So we all heard that anecdotally, but I think the figures in the DAFT report certainly bear that out.

And Rowan Alliance, the author, actually referred to that as an issue.

So there was a slight increase in supply, and I have no doubt that came about because you had scenarios where tenancies became vacant voluntarily in terms of tenants leaving.

Instead of renting out those properties immediately, landlords held off.

So I think that's certainly a factor here.

But on the bigger picture, look, as a government, we fully recognise the rental market is not functioning properly.

It needs to be fixed.

And the only way to do that is by increasing supply.

In any market, David, when you have a shortage of supply of a product or a service, prices will increase.

We need to address that issue.

We need to address the underlying issue, which is why as a government, we are using every tool at our disposal to increase the housing supply and the availability of rental properties.

So there is undoubtedly a linkage in terms of the new rules that came in.

But it is important to point out that under the new tenancies, tenants have been given significant protection in terms of security of tenure.

For example, they have a minimum of six years duration.

And during that period, it's important to point out that rents cannot increase beyond the 2% per annum, for example.

So we are seeing a blip here in terms of the transition from the old system to the new system.

And these figures are not comfort reading for renters.