Irish Low-Paid Workers Face Second-Highest EU Rent Burden; Dublin Rents Highest Among Capitals

Low-paid workers in Ireland face the second-highest rental expenditure across 21 EU countries, with average rent consuming 57.2 per cent of their monthly minimum wage income. A report by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) found that the €1,366 average rent for a one- to two-bedroom home would cost a worker on the €2,391 national minimum wage more than half their income. This figure is second only to Malta's 61.3 per cent.

In Dublin, a minimum-wage worker would need an additional €306 per month to cover the average €2,697 rent for a one- or two-bedroom home, representing 112 per cent of their income. Despite Ireland having the EU's second-highest minimum wage (after Luxembourg), Dublin's rents are higher than any other EU capital. In Prague, Lisbon, and Paris, average rents exceed minimum wages by over €700.

Esther Lynch, European Trade Union general secretary, called the disconnect between rent and pay unsustainable, highlighting that rising energy and food costs leave workers borrowing for necessities. Separately, research by Ciarán Nugent for the Nevin Economic Research Institute found that the proportion of Irish 25-34-year-olds living with or dependent on parents doubled between 2012 and 2024 to 42.2 per cent, compared to the EU average of 29.3 per cent. Almost two-thirds (64.9 per cent) of these are in full-time employment. The deprivation rate for private renters in Ireland is 23.5 per cent, the fifth highest in the EU.