The current ban on evictions is “creating a new form of homelessness”, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.
Mr Varadkar has also promised the Government will make an announcement on whether it plans to extend the ban before the Dáil’s St Patrick’s Day recess, on March 9th. The current ban on evictions is due to expire at the end of March.
The Fine Gael leader said people returning back to Ireland from abroad were finding they are “unable to move back into their own homes” due to the eviction ban.
The Taoiseach was, during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil on Wednesday, responding to Labour leader Ivana Bacik, who said people across the country had “already been given a notice to quit” and many families were now “counting down the days until they will be without a home”.
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The Dublin Bay South TD asked Mr Varadkar whether he thought it was “fair to leave those renters in limbo” and said “timing was crucial”.
[ People Before Profit warns of ‘avalanche’ of homelessness without eviction banOpens in new window ]
“It’s crucial for families. We’re halfway through the school term. We’re just a few short weeks away from the Leaving Cert and Junior Cert exams and third-level assessments,” Ms Bacik said.
“We’re seeing a spate of job losses. Today’s announcement by Google in my own constituency [is] just the latest, but you and Government are taking your time, you seem to have made a decision that there’s no rush on this.”
The Labour leader added it was “unconscionable to delay the decision any longer”.
In response, the Taoiseach said a decision would be made on whether to extend the eviction ban within two to three weeks and the Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien, and the Attorney General were working on the matter.
Mr Varadkar said there were pros and cons to any decision the Government would make. He said when the eviction ban was introduced late last year it did not have the same effect as during the Covid-19 pandemic and people were still becoming homeless for “lots of different reasons”.
[ ‘I’m a homeless homeowner’: The apartment owner who is now couch surfingOpens in new window ]
“We also have to consider the fact that it is creating a new form of homelessness, people who can’t move into houses and apartments that they own,” he said.
“People coming back from Dubai, coming back from Australia, coming back from England, who find that they’re unable to move back into their own homes.
“We also have the matter of people, for example, who might have bought an apartment in Dublin or Cork for when their daughter or son goes to college that now can’t move their own daughter or son into the property they bought.
“That matters too, they’re people too and we need to take that into account.”
The Fine Gael leader added that the Government would make a decision and announcement before the St Patrick’s Day recess.
