A Fianna Fáil councillor has been ordered to return more than €5,000 to her tenants in overcharged rent after a Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) tribunal deemed a rent review, which more than doubled the amount, unlawful.
Rita McInerney, who has been a Fianna Fáil councillor in Co Clare since 2024 and previously served as chief executive of the Ennis Chamber, sought to increase Bartosz Milinski and Marta Kostanowicz’s rent from €650 to €1,500.
McInerney told the tribunal the previous rent of €650 was “well below market value” and that the “asset was underperforming”, according to a tribunal report published on Friday.
Milinski, who received the rent review notice in 2025, said the amount was “disproportionate”, arguing that similar properties in the area were being rented for between €700 and €1,000. He had been renting the house on Doonbeg’s Main Street since 2016.
The tribunal heard McInerney issued a notice of termination to the tenants in January this year on rent arrears grounds. It followed a warning letter which gave them 28 days to pay €5,100 following the rent review, which came into effect in June 2025.
However, Milinski said the sum had been paid within the 28 days provided.
McInerney, who also ran in the 2024 general election for Fianna Fáil, coming seventh in the four-seat constituency, claimed she was entitled to serve the eviction notice. She alleged Milinski “continued to default in paying the new rent” for several months.
In the rent review notice, the tribunal heard McInerney, who owns McInerney’s shop in Doonbeg, used an apartment in Kilkee as one of the comparables.
Milinski argued this was “not comparable”, saying Kilkee was a holiday village with a population of “1,000” while Doonbeg had a population of “300” and “had no beach”.
McInerney said it was difficult to find comparable properties rented within four weeks in Doonbeg, saying it was a “highly sought-after area”.
The tribunal heard she issued a subsequent notice of termination in March this year as she required the property for her own use.
Her tenant questioned her intention to occupy the property, claiming it had “always been a rental property and the landlord had not lived there”.
However, McInerney explained the property was built in 2005 and she rented it out after she had moved into her parents’ home several years ago to care for them, telling the tribunal they were both now deceased.
Under the terms of father’s will, she said her brother owned the family home, and she needed to vacate “as soon as possible”.
The tribunal deemed the rent review invalid, saying McInerney did not include “adequate comparables” to support the rent sought, though it accepted it was difficult to get “exact comparables” due to the lack of properties being advertised.
However, it said the rules were “clear”, and it deemed the rent review “unlawful” before ordering her to refund the tenants €5,100 in overpaid rent within 28 days.
It also deemed the notice of termination issued on rent arrears grounds invalid, reiterating there was “no lawful rent review”.
It separately deemed the eviction notice issued in March valid, saying it was satisfied McInerney required the property for her own use. It said the tenants should vacate before or on the termination date in December.
McInerney, who is a well-known figure in Doonbeg, has regularly commented on US president Donald Trump’s ties to the local community.
During his visit to the White House in 2025, Taoiseach Micheál Martin passed on a message Trump from McInerney, to “thank his family for the way they have worked with the local community, and for the work they they’ve done”.