Green councillor criticises Coalition's handling of eviction ban during tense debate
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A senior Green Party figure has described some of the State’s responses to the lifting of the eviction ban as “rushed and ill-considered".
Cork City Council member Dan Boyle made his comments during a lengthy debate on housing at April's meeting of Cork City Council tonight during which government party councillors hailed recent housing delivery while Sinn Féin criticised the pace of delivery and called for the extension of the eviction ban.
Mr Boyle said that not enough was done during the ban to strengthen legislation around security of tenure and tenants rights and he said some of the suggested responses — the tenant-in-situ scheme, more involvement of local authorities and approved housing bodies — while welcome, are “as much a band-aid approach as the eviction ban was”.
The meeting heard how, despite the council delivering almost 2,300 new council homes since 2019 and a pipeline of almost 2,000 social homes by 2026, it has no additional housing staff to respond to the lifting of the eviction ban.
Any ramping up of emergency responses will have to be done with existing staff numbers, the city’s head of housing, Niall Ó Donnabháin, said.
He said he is reallocating resources when necessary to respond and is engaging with the department of local government on the provision of additional resources but he said as of now, any solutions must be found from within the existing team.
A dedicated email address, tenantinsitu@corkcity.ie, has been established for people facing eviction, and two internal working groups have been set up to log and respond to these contacts — one to seek suitable housing options and the other to deal with more complex cases.
Mr Ó Donnabháin said the current level of council housing output is significant but he is conscious that the housing targets are minimum targets.
He said his homeless placement team will work with people facing eviction to find a solution but he warned that the tenant in situ scheme isn’t a solution for everyone, with 31 properties out of a target of 80 acquired or in progress.
However, Sinn Fein councillor Eolan Ryng warned that pending validation, some 1,000 potential eviction notices could be coming down the tracks before the end of the year at a time when rental prices are at an all-time high, and housing supply is almost non-existent.
All councillors praised the council's housing staff for how they are dealing with the current crisis.
However, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin clashed during what was at times a tense meeting.
The chairman of the council’s housing strategic policy committee, Tony Fitzgerald, and his party colleague, Terry Shannon, accused Sinn Féin of being more interested in photo opportunities and grandstanding, rather than finding solutions.
Lord Mayor Deirdre Forde said there had been "some showboating" during the meeting and she had hoped to hear more ideas to address the crisis, such as potential changes to planning laws, and whether log cabins or modular homes could be considered.
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