Housing Minister defends ending eviction ban amid criticism

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien said the temporary moratorium on evictions was a “short-term measure” and will end as originally planned on March 31, on a phased basis until June 18.

“It didn’t need to be reassessed given the impact it will have in the long term by potentially storing up larger problems,” he said.

He added that the measure also had not reduced homelessness numbers.

Mr O’Brien said the Government used the eviction ban to increase housing supply, which is “key to address the crisis”.

He added that the Government was also bringing in new measures and protections for landlords and tenants.

These include the requirement for a landlord selling a property to first offer it to the tenant, and the development of a “bespoke cost-rental model” for tenants at risk of homelessness but not on social housing support.

Mr O’Brien also said the renters’ tax credit remains in place until 2025.

Mr O’Brien said he did not regret the eviction ban.

“It didn’t work as planned. It did have the effect of stabilising the situation, we did see some reduction in child and family homelessness. I don’t regret putting it in place, we said it would be an emergency measure,” he said.

I don’t regret putting it in place, we said it would be an emergency measure

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien

Calls had been made to extend the ban as homelessness and energy bills remain high.

A Green Party TD earlier criticised the Government’s decision, saying it does not reflect the party’s values.

Neasa Hourigan criticised the process of “three men in the room making this decision” without wider consultation.

“I know that obviously the Government is led by a Fine Gael Taoiseach and I suspect this process of putting the investment interests of people who have two or three homes ahead of the basic needs of people who have none suits Fine Gael fairly well.

“But it doesn’t suit the Green Party and I think we need to be clear about that,” she said on RTE’s Claire Byrne.

You will open the floodgates to a tsunami of homelessness

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns

She said families will be evicted through no fault of their own.

“There are no more hotel rooms in Dublin central, there are no more B&Bs.

“I genuinely do not know where we are going to put people,” Ms Hourigan said.

Depending on the date that an eviction notice is served and the duration of the tenancy, the no-fault moratorium will be lifted on a phased basis between April 1 and June 18.

Focus Ireland chief executive Pat Dennigan had called on the Cabinet to extend the moratorium, saying that lifting it would amount to “turning on the tap into homelessness and making an absolutely shameful situation even worse”.

I know that obviously the Government is led by a Fine Gael Taoiseach and I suspect this process of putting the investment interests of people who have two or three homes ahead of the basic needs of people who have none suits Fine Gael fairly well

Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan

Addressing a half-day seminar on housing, he added: “We’re not going to put a timeline on that, we’re not going to say for three, six, nine months or even a year, we believe we can’t put an arbitrary timeline on the extension, but rather we must extend the ban until we have tackled the conditions that made it essential in the first place.

“We must use the breathing space of the ban to provide solutions.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar defended the decision during Leader’s Questions in the Dail.

Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin suggested the move will see children having to sleep in garda stations, and accused the premier of “allowing homelessness to increase”.

Mr Varadkar said the eviction ban was not effective in tackling homelessness and was creating a new type of homelessness, adding that it had been a “finely balanced decision”.

“There are pros and cons but we made the decision which we believe is in the overall public interest,” he told TDs.

Mr Varadkar said extending the eviction ban could have meant even fewer homes coming on to the market because people would be afraid to rent out their property.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns also pressed Mr Varadkar to reverse the decision not to extend the evictions ban.

She accused him of “trying to defend the indefensible”, adding: “You have now condemned potentially thousands of individuals and families to homelessness.

“You will open the floodgates to a tsunami of homelessness.”

Mr Varadkar said the decision was made because it was believed to be the right one, and in the public interest.