Labour has slammed Fine Gael for refusing to help protect the most vulnerable tenants in Ireland's private rental market.

The party's Community Affairs spokesperson, Cllr Andrew Montague, called for the law to be changed so that landlords can only seek up to one months rent as a deposit.

The law to allow for a protection scheme was passed in 2015.

Cllr Montague said: "After two years, the Government has failed to implement a tenancy deposit protection scheme which was passed into law in 2015, but I welcome the statement by the Taoiseach in the Dáil this week in response to questions from Labour Party Leader Brendan Howlin that he strongly supports a deposit scheme.

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"Just a few months ago the stated intention of the Government was to scrap the law rather than bring in the much needed scheme so the change of policy is welcome.

"In the meantime it has come to light that some landlords are now demanding more than one months rent as a deposit, and the law should be changed to stop this.

"Labour introduced this deposit protection scheme so it is disappointing that Fine Gael are dragging their feet on this much needed safety net that is common in many other countries.

"Over one in five of the complaints at the Residential Tenancies Board relate to landlords not returning their deposits. A protection scheme would free up this time for other more pressing cases related to rent and tenancy disputes.

"The 10 year anniversary of the UK's deposit protection scheme was at the beginning of June, but a decade on Ireland has still failed to act."

(CD/LM)