The Tánaiste and Social Protection Minister's accusing some landlords of being "excessively greedy".
Joan Burton's also confirmed the Government is looking at 'rent certainty' proposals – although the Department of Finance is showing some resistance to such moves.
Fianna Fáil's demanded action in the Dáil to help people who can't afford rents and are becoming homeless.
Meanwhile,
A prominent Clare Estate Agent says new figures showing rents in the county at their highest level in nearly three years don't reflect reality.
Figures released by the PRTB show that renters in Clare are spending just over 500 euro a month on rent but the figures refer to the average price paid and don't reflect the current asking prices.
It adds up to a 9 euro increase in the past year, but the last time rents were this high was in the summer of 2012.
On a town-by-town basis, a different picture has emerged with the average price in Killaloe and Newmarket on Fergus at over 590 euro, in Sixmilebridge and Shannon, monthly rent bills amount to 570 euro while in Ennis, the figure is 523 euro.
But Newmarket-On-Fergus based Estate Agent Patricia McCarthy says the average price paid doesn't reflect the market reality with some people forking out up to seven or eight hundred euro per month on rent.
The Ennis-based West Of Ireland Manager of Respond Housing Association believes people are struggling to pay for accomodation on account of rising rents.
Paul Harganden says the low number of properties available to renters is behind the rise and he believes whats on the market is of a very low quality.
Paul says the issue is evident across Clare and he believes the only way to solve the problem is build more houses.
