Call for eviction ban to be extended to January 2024

Last week, the Government confirmed that the ban on evictions, which was set to end on 31 March, would not be extended due to concerns that an extension would damage the supply of rental properties in the long term.

In response to this, Sinn Féin has submitted a Dáil motion to extend the eviction ban until the end of January 2024. 

Warning of a “human catastrophe” arising from the end of the eviction ban, Dublin Mid-West TD Eoin Ó Broin, the party’s housing spokesman, published the text of the party’s motion on Tuesday morning.

The motion states that Ireland “remains in the midst of a housing emergency” and that by choosing to end the eviction ban on 31 March, the government has “increased the stress and insecurity experienced by the 750,000 people, including working families, living in private rented accommodation”.

It calls for the emergency ban to be extended until the end of January next year, as well as an overhaul of existing social housing schemes and the use of emergency planning powers to build and refurbish more homes.

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has defended the decision to end the ban, saying that it would further reduce the number of rental properties available.

The motion will be debated in the Dáil next Tuesday and voted on the following day.