Irish rents have reached a new all-time high according to the latest report from property website Daft.ie.

Figures show that prices across the country rose by an average of 10.4 per cent last year, with the average Dublin rent now €380 higher than the previous Celtic Tiger peak.

The biggest increases were seen in Limerick and Galway, with rents rising by 14.8 per cent and 12.4 per cent respectively.

A lack of suitable properties is largely to blame for the spiralling costs, with just 3,143 units available to rent nationwide as of February 1 this year.

This is the lowest figure ever recorded since the report started in 2006.

Economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft report, Ronán Lyons said: "2017 marks the fourth consecutive year of double-digit gains in rents nationwide.

"The underlying pressure for rising rents remains due to a chronic shortage of available rental accommodation, at a time of strong demand."

Speaking about the report, a spokesperson for the Simon Communities in Ireland said the latest figures show that the Government's efforts to cap rent in so-called pressure zones, weren't working.

“Rent Pressure Zones and other measures cannot work without proper monitoring and enforcement by the Residential Tenancies Board," they said.

“Tenants cannot be expected to ‘police’ this private market when they are clearly at such a huge disadvantage with continuously diminishing supply and rising prices". 

Meanwhile, the Social Democrats co-leader, Catherine Murphy, called on the Government to immediately link rents to the Consumer Price Index until sufficient housing is made available.