That's according to the latest Quarterly Rent Index of the Private Residential Tenancies Board, compiled by the Economic and Social Research Institute, which shows the rise is driven by strong growth in the apartments sector.

In the capital, rents grew by 3.5 per-cent when compared with the first quarter of this year. 

However, outside of Dublin, the report shows rents fell slightly during the second quarter, in comparison with the first quarter of 2013.

David Duffy, Economist with the ESRI, has been looking at the figures:Click here to see the full report