Average rents, advertised on the open market, have increased to €2,055 a month.

The latest figures, from property listings website Daft.ie, show asking prices for rents rose 7% in the three months between April and June.

Average advertised rent in Dublin is now €2,583 a month, a rise of 7% since last year.

Average rents have risen 15% in the past 12 months in Limerick city to €2,422 a month.

In Cork city average rent is now €2,241 euro a month, and it's €2,295 euro a month in Galway city, an increase of 9% compared to the same time last year.

Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin, and author of the Daft.ie report, Ronan Lyons, said places outside Dublin have seen huge increases since the pandemic.

"Nationally, the average increase is dragged down by Dublin, but in some areas, rents are twice what they were just five years ago.

"Places like Roscommon, Leitrim, even Limerick City, have seen substantial increases in that period, because of a lack of homes available to rent".

The report found there were 2,300 homes available to rent nationwide on the 1st of August.

It's a 14% drop compared to the same date last year, and close to half average number advertised for rent between 2015-2019.

Professor Ronan Lyons said a lack of supply means rents are likely to remain high.

"The prospects for the next two, three years look very poor, because there isn't any pipeline of rental housing that will come on stream anywhere in the country in that period.

"The question is whether those changes to rent controls the government made a couple of months ago, whether they will be enough of a change in order to bring about the investment needed that will bring rent down, but that will be three to five years or even longer".