An evictions ban will be time-limited and must avoid forcing more landlords out of the sector, a minister said last night.
The three coalition leaders are discussing bringing in a moratorium on notices to terminate tenancies. The move will go before Cabinet today after leaders worked through the plan last night.
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said he had held talks with senior Government officials. He added: “I’ve obviously worked with the Attorney General and his office and colleagues to see what we can do as a time-bound measure.”
Read more: Social welfare Ireland: Grim report finds no properties available under standard HAP limits
Mr O’Brien said there was an “acute” accommodation crisis that had been compounded by the pressures of the emergency accommodation required following the arrivals of people fleeing war in Ukraine. He added: “We will deliver more social homes this year than any year in the history of the State, and work through the other measures that we have done with local authorities.
“That includes purchasing with tenants in situ, which means any HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) or RAS (Rental Assistance Payment) tenant who receives a notice to quit, I’ve instructed the councils to buy those homes. What I’m looking at right now is the proposals for the three leaders to discuss.
“I know what’s legal and what we can do. We’ve obviously got to be very conscious of any measures that we take don’t have any unintended consequences of further reducing supply in the private rental market." Meanwhile, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said the plan was not for a ban on evictions, but a moratorium on notices to terminate.
Speaking to reporters from Government Buildings, the Fine Gael leader said: “The proposal for the moratorium on the notices to
terminate is for the winter period. Certainly, when it comes to constitutional issues, it’s always been the case in Ireland that property rights are subject to the common good. They’re not absolute. So we have a property tax, we have compulsory purchase orders and we have rent pressure zones.”
Defending the Government’s record on housing, the Tanaiste added: “We had a housing crash and a banking collapse 12 years ago. The construction industry has never fully recovered since then, and doesn’t have the capacity to build as many houses as we’d like it to, or be able to build.”
READ MORE
Robbie Keane's 'heavy heart' as mum Anne dies with funeral details announced
Parcels labelled Lego and Blackberry found in Dublin premises with €266k drugs inside
Parents urged to take children between two and 17-years-old to get nasal spray flu vaccine
Inhaler to play two gigs at Dublin's 3Olympia Theatre as part of major world tour
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
