Almost every rented property inspected by councils across Dublin in the last year failed to meet standards.
Figures from the National Oversight and Audit Commission show checks were carried out at sixteen thousand homes across the country in 2017.
Four out of every five of those were not up to scratch.
Deputy John Curran, Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, says the number of inspections being carried out isn't high enough.
"The government need to invest more, and they have said they will do that over the next few years but they really need to ramp that up".
The Fianna Fail TD also raised concern that "some are afraid to report that there is something wrong in the property themselves in case it results in a bad relationship with the landlord".
According to the Department of Housing, inspections by local authorities are targeted on properties that are "identified as being at risk of not complying".
"For this reason the rate of non-compliance among inspected properties will inevitably, and properly, be higher than the rate across all rental properties", a spokesperson said.
The Department spokesperson explained that, tn some cases, properties are deemed non-compliant on inspection for minor infringements like a missing fire blanket.
