Eviction has a terrible historical resonance in Ireland which dates back centuries, but the current eviction ban is an illustration of how a particularly modern problem has been able to contaminate almost every aspect of Irish life.

That problem, the housing crisis is a contributing or causal factor in many of our current challenges.

The unprecedented levels of homelessness along with unfeasibly high house prices; the involvement of vulture funds in the rental market at the macro level; and the sex-for-rent demands uncovered in individual cases around the country. 

The threat to the country’s general economic growth, as reported by this paper, posed by a reputation for non-existent or outrageously-priced accommodation, and then the potential for political infighting, as reported by this paper, when elected representatives wrangle about measures to address the problem.

That includes measures such as the eviction ban. For all its faults, the ban allows some modicum of stability to hard-pressed renters abiding by the terms of their rental agreements. It thus stands in sharp contrast to many of the other proposals and suggestions that have been aired in this regard: It works.

It is not a solution to the housing crisis as a whole, in fact the Government is right to argue it may be preventing supply, but it does fulfil its purpose in making specific provisions to address one problem caused by that crisis.

The depth of the crisis can be gauged by the remarks of Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien earlier this week, when he said the eviction ban had not worked as anticipated and admitted that homelessness might “very possibly” rise as a result of ending it.

He went on to discuss legal challenges to the ban and other matters, but a minister admitting that ending a measure may lead to increased homelessness is surely the strongest imaginable argument for that measure remaining in place.