The Government has approved legislation to change the current rental system.
Minister for Housing James Browne brought the Residential Tenancies Bill, which changes the system from 1 March, to the Government ahead of its passage through the Oireachtas in the coming weeks.
These changes will cap rents at 2% annually for all homes except new apartments where the increases will be linked to the Consumer Price Index.
Rental agreements will now typically run for six years but smaller landlords will be able to end a tenancy if they need the property for a family member or if they are experiencing financial hardship.
Smaller landlords will be classified as those who have three tenancies or less - with any property that is not subdivided regarded as a single tenancy.
However, Opposition parties are adamant the provision which allows landlords to set rents to market rates after tenants move out will lead to major rent hikes.
In the case of student accommodation, the rent cannot be reset to market levels until 2029 and it can only be altered every three years after that point.
A new Rent Price Register is also set to be established and there will be a legal definition of what constitutes market rent.
Mr Browne said the current rental system is broken and is "simply not fit for purpose".
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One, Mr Browne said: "What we have had for a number of years is rolling, temporary, very restrictive measures around rental properties.
"What it has done now is completely choked off supply and what we need to do is get supply moving."
Minister Browne said what he is doing is bringing in a system "which will strengthen tenants' rights right across the board".
He said nothing will change for the 240,000 existing tenancies; nothing changes for the tenant or the landlord but just for new tenancies from 1 March.
"They have strengthened tenants' rights in that they will now have tenancies of minimum duration, so they know that they have a certainty in terms of the length that they can rent for but it also brings in resetting of rents," he said.
Mr Browne said this will allow for greater investment and the delivery of homes.
Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin called the proposed legislation the "Rip-Off Rent Hike Bill".
"This is the most profound change to rent regulation in a decade, which will allow landlords to reset rents to market rates at the start of new tenancies and every six years after that," he said.
"From March 1st of this year, more and more renters will be subject to this new market rent reset rule, meaning already unaffordable rents will be hiked up even further."
On the Cabinet agenda
Meanwhile, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence Helen McEntee was due to update the Cabinet on the progress of legislation to abolish the Triple Lock.
The Government intends to end the requirement for a UN mandate when deploying members of the Defence Forces overseas.
It also plans to allow up to 50 troops to go on missions abroad without a Dáil resolution, but it is understood the Oireachtas Defence and National Security Committee would be informed.
Speaking as she arrived for the Cabinet meeting, the minister said plans to abolish the Triple Lock legislation does not in anyway affect Ireland's neutrality.
She said it "reinforces the proud tradition of our peacekeeping and it reinforces our ability of our troops to engage in peacekeeping missions on the ground which they have done for many decades".
Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless was due to bring a memo to the Cabinet to establish the country's first National Skills Observatory.
The NSO will have a strong focus on AI to ensure workers and businesses are ready for the next wave of technological change.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill was due to update colleagues on the Waiting Time Action Plan, which sets out 36 measures to reduce the length of time patients are waiting to access care.
The Government is to use expertise from a State agency to help speed up infrastructural projects.
The first projects which will benefit from the move will be the redevelopment of the GPO on O'Connell Street and the National Concert Hall in Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin.
The National Development Finance Agency is to support government departments in the delivery of capital projects.
This follows a memo being brought to Cabinet by Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers and Minister for Finance Simon Harris.
New ministerial guidelines will be issued to every department and departments will be asked to identify suitable projects which could benefit from the new service.
The Cabinet was told this could shave months off the development cycles of major capital projects.
The new role for the National Development Finance Agency will reduce the need for external consultants.
The agency will provide corporate governance arrangements for projects, preparation of businesses cases and support through the construction phase of projects.
