An emergency meeting of Wicklow County Council has been called after hundreds of local authority tenants raised concerns about rent increases that are due to come into effect within weeks.
Councillors from across the county have been contacted by tenants after letters were sent out outlining changes to their rents.
Some tenants have reported increases of between 50% and 100%, despite saying their household income has not changed since their last rent review.
The situation has led to an emergency meeting of the full county council being confirmed for September 28.
Sinn Féin councillors Warren O’Toole and John Ward have been among the most outspoken on the issue, saying they have been inundated with calls from distressed tenants.
The councillors had formally requested a special sitting of the full council, with the request receiving support from councillors across the county.
Wicklow County Council has defended the new rent scheme, saying it is the first rent review since 2019.
The council says some tenants can expect significant changes because household circumstances and income details may not have been updated since the previous review.
However, councillors have said they knew a review was taking place but were not prepared for the scale of the increases now being reported.
The county cathaoirleach, Social Democrats councillor Caroline Winstanley, has raised particular concerns about vulnerable tenants.
She said she had been contacted by tenants, including some pensioners and people with disabilities, who were facing significant increases.
Cllr Winstanley said the scale of the hikes had “taken myself and other councillors by surprise”.
She also said that “large rent hikes for vulnerable members of our community are not supported by us, and are simply not on”.
Cllr Winstanley said she and Family Carers Ireland had previously lobbied successfully for Family Carers Allowance to be disregarded when calculating household income for rent purposes.
Despite that change, she said the increases being reported remained deeply concerning.
She has asked tenants to contact her with details of their old rent, new rent and any changes in their circumstances.
The information will be used to help councillors build a clearer picture of the impact of the new scheme ahead of the emergency meeting.
A meeting with the cathaoirligh of Wicklow's five Municipal Districts is also due to take place this week.
Cllr Winstanley has requested a detailed analysis of the rent changes ahead of the September 28 meeting.
Independent councillor Peir Leonard, chair of the Arklow Municipal District, has also criticised the rent review process.
She said factors including household debt, childcare costs, medical expenses and transport costs were not being properly considered.
She said the short notice given to tenants had caused “shock, anxiety and enormous uncertainty”.
She also criticised the fact that councillors have no vote or discretion over the rent-setting process, describing it as “another erosion of democracy led by government policy”.
Sinn Féin TD John Brady has called for a full review of the scheme before the new rents are due to take effect on October 3.
His party colleague in the Wicklow-Wexford constituency, Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin, has called for the €200 rent cap to be reinstated.
He also wants the minimum rent increase reversed from €30 per week to €24.
He said: “Social housing must remain genuinely affordable. Council tenants should not be asked to pay the price for policy failures while they are already struggling to make ends meet.”
Meanwhile, an online petition opposing the rent increases has gathered more than 1,170 signatures.
A protest is also planned outside Wicklow County Council buildings on September 28, the same day as the emergency meeting.
The new rent increases are currently due to come into effect on October 3.
