Eviction ban expiry
Deputy Bacik criticised the decision not to extend the eviction ban and warned of worsening homelessness. The Taoiseach said an extension had been considered but rejected on Cabinet recommendation.
Tá cearta tithíochta ag gach duine ach tá an cosc ar dhíshealbhuithe ag críochnú ag deireadh na míosa agus tá géarchéim na ndaoine gan dídean ag dul in olcas. The news today that the eviction ban will not be extended is devastating for thousands of individuals and families who thought it might be because the Taoiseach had been indicating to me and other Opposition leaders in recent weeks that a decision would be made by Government and that Government was actively considering an extension. We understood that such an extension of the ban would not be permanent, that it would be for a matter of months and that it might be conditional. Indeed, it should have been conditional on Government putting in place necessary measures to ensure an increase in the supply of housing and yet, in the four months the ban was in place, the Taoiseach's Government did nothing. The tenant in situ scheme should have been a real opportunity to increase delivery of homes for people who are renting and yet, as of yesterday, Dublin City Council had acquired just seven homes in 2023 according to information supplied to our Labour Party councillor, Jane Horgan-Jones. Why could the Government not have extended the ban further and given itself some more months to ramp up schemes such as the tenant in situ scheme and put genuinely effective measures in place to deliver housing for renting families?
Comment on this
We did consider an extension and a partial extension. On the recommendation of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and with the unanimous agreement of Cabinet, we decided that, on balance, an extension was not the right approach for the reasons I explained earlier. I will not accept the narrative, or the nonsense, that we somehow sat on our hands and did nothing for the past three to six months. I have set out what we have done. Some 5,000 new social homes were built in the past couple of months. A further 600 have been leased and 500 bought while 1,500 voids were returned to use and 650 additional emergency beds were provided. We announced today not only that the moratorium would lapse, but also that we would purchase 1,500 homes from landlords who are selling up where social housing tenants are at risk of becoming homeless.
