Extending eviction ban 'could make things worse' says Tánaiste
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Extending the eviction ban could "make things worse", the Tánaiste has told the Dáil.
The ban is set to expire on March 31, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar suggesting this week that a decision on its extension will be made before St Patrick's Day.
Speaking during Thursday's Leaders' Questions, Micheál Martin said that the Government is "examining" the issue, but said that there are concerns that extending the ban could make supply issues worse.
Mr Martin told the Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy: "We need to be honest with the market. We need to be honest with those who are renting as well. What would the impact of that (extending the ban) be on supply? Would it make it worse?"
He added: "Obviously the parallel is that we have to increase supply through building houses."
Mr Martin said that the ban had been brought about during winter because of the rising price of energy and this gave the Government a "very solid legal base" under which to ban no-fault evictions.
He said that there would be no "cliff-edge" on the protections, but said that the Government was "mindful" of the impacts.
Ms Murphy told the Tánaiste that people are arriving at local constituency offices "in a panic" as the ban is due to expire in the coming weeks, prompting fears of a wave of evictions.
“The first thing you do in a crisis is not make that crisis worse,” she said. “There’s a very real fear that that’s exactly what’s about to happen.
“We can all see it every week in our constituency offices; housing and homelessness and the prospect of homelessness is the number one issue.”
Mr Martin said that there had been a net loss of 13,500 homes in the rental sector and a "couple of hundred" people who wanted to return to Ireland to live in homes they have rented to others.
"You have to ask yourself — why are landlords leaving the market? There's a real issue here, we could make things much worse."
Earlier in the session, Sinn Féin's David Cullinane raised a Hiqa report into the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick. He said the report showed non-compliance with five standards.
"There was only one day so far this year when we had less than 400 patients on a trolley and that's simply not good enough.
"Emergency Department waiting times are through the roof under your government. Patients in need of emergency care are now waiting 20% longer than in 2019, which is nearly three hours longer."
In response, Mr Martin said the Government has made "unprecedented investment" in the health system.