Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó Broin says rent increases should be banned for an 'emergency period' of three years to let people's incomes 'catch up' with rents.
He suggests rent pressure zones haven't worked, so a freeze is now needed as rents remain too high.
Rent pressure zones have been in place since 2017, and now cover dozens of the country's biggest towns and cities.
It means the rent cannot be increased by more than 4% per year in the designated zones.
However, Deputy Ó Broin told Newstalk Breakfast it's now clear the pressure zone policy hasn't achieved what was intended.
He said: “In many areas where rents were meant to be capped annually at 4% [increase], we’ve seen increases of 5%, 6% and 8%. Limerick City and Waterford City in the last year - even with COVID taken into account - have seen rent increases of 8% and 5% respectively.
“Rents are now too high, and what I’d like to see is a ban on future increases for an emergency period of three years to allow incomes to catch up with where rents are at.
“Obviously that’s not the only solution, and we need other measures - like investment in affordable cost-rental accommodation, tenancy of indefinite duration etc…”
He noted that rents in many parts of Dublin are now over €2,000, and the increases are often not sustainable for even those with good jobs as wages 'lag behind'.
Deputy Ó Broin acknowledged that the market is losing a significant number of rental properties - but argued that's primarily down to landlords who have had their properties return to positive net equity.
He suggested: "They want to get out - they’re people who probably should never have been landlords… they thought it was a passive investment that didn’t require much time.
“I’ve been calling on the last minister and the current minister to sit down with the sector and opposition to come up with a plan to stop this disorderly exit.
“But the idea that a ban on increasing rents - when rents today are higher than they’ve ever been - will result in a loss of supply… I just don’t accept."
'Extremely dangerous'
Margaret McCormack, spokesperson for the Irish Property Owners Association, believes a rent freeze would be 'extremely dangerous and extremely damaging' - and claimed it's 'an economic fact' that it would impact supply.
He said: "All rent freezes have long-term consequences, but it would reduce the amount of accommodation that’s available out there.
“Every time they interfere in the market there’s consequences - even with the consequences from the rent pressure zones, we’ve lost an awful lot of accommodation from the market and lost a lot of landlords."
She said many of her organisation's members are selling their properties simply because it's 'no longer sustainable' to maintain them as rental properties.
She told Shane: “High rents grab attention and headlines - but they’re not representative of the market as a whole. An awful lot of people would have fair rents and low rents.
“If you invest in a property today, it is a very costly affair. To get any type of yield, you need to charge a rent that allows for you to maintain the property and for it to be sustainable."
She added that a significant percentage - as much as half - of collected rent goes back to the State in taxation.
