Opposition slams Government for not extending eviction ban

Opposition parties have voiced their concern about the Government not extending the eviction ban as part of the cost of living supports package announced last week.

During a debate in the Dáil, Minister for Housing and Fingal TD Darragh O’Brien said that the Government was “considering the legal and policy issues right now.

“Any extension of the eviction ban period is complex,” he said.

This was following Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD confirming that a decision on the ban will made in the next two to three weeks.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin also said that any extension to the ban would be “short-term”, and the “fundamental” question was whether it would negatively impact the housing supply.

Minister O’Brien said that since 2016, 10 percent of “private tenancies have been lost” comprising of almost 44,000 units.

“We have genuinely to make sure that the measures that are taken do not lead to further flight and a reduction in stock and housing capacity as we are building up the stock on the other side,” he says/

“That is important.”

Sinn Fein TD for Dublin Bay North Denise Mitchell, whose party is calling for an extension of the ban until the end of the year, said it is needed “in order to prevent thousands more people becoming homeless.

“It is the compassionate and humane thing to do.

“Renters need security.

“A ban on evictions is, as we all know, a temporary solution, but it is a necessary reaction to the housing crisis that the people of this State have been facing for the past decade.

“There are 11,632 people, including 3,442 children, who are homeless.

“Without an extension of the eviction ban, the figures will continue to increase.”

Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan also criticised the move to not announce an extension of the ban.

“We have the highest number of people living in emergency homeless accommodation in the history of the State, not to mention the situation of people who are not counted in those official figures such as those sleeping on floors and couches and in tents and doorways and the tens of thousands of hidden homeless,” he said.

“Given that situation that we are in, it is quite difficult to understand why the Government is not telling us now that it is definitely going to extend this ban.

“Given that we have some of the highest rents in Europe and some of the lowest levels of security for renters, why is the Government not telling us that it is going to deal with this once and for all and provide proper security of tenure for renters?”

As part of the measures to ease the cost of living, the Government announced a €1 billion package which includes a €100 lump sum Child Benefit payment per child in June and a once-off €100 extra for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance in July.

A second extra €200 for will be paid in April to people in receipt of the Working Family Payment, lone parents, low-income families, those on disability payments and pensionsers.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar also confirmed that there will not be an additional €200 electricity energy in May and this will be reconsidered in the next budget.