FIANNA Fáil TD Christopher O’Sullivan said he is supporting the government’s decision to lift the winter eviction ban as originally planned on April 1st.
‘The measures that have been put in place in the government’s counter motion, which was voted on in the Dáil on Wednesday, will have to deliver for people who are faced with notices to quit.
‘This,’ he said, ‘will include putting it up to local authorities to avail of the Tenant In-situ Scheme and purchase properties so tenants can remain as local authority tenants.
‘I don’t believe lifting the ban mid-winter, as proposed by the opposition, is the right thing to do, because it will inevitably lead to a shrinking of the rental market, which is not good for renters.’
Independent TD Michael Collins said he is in favour of the continuation of the eviction ban, and voted against the government’s counter proposal to the Sinn Féin motion.
‘Every weekend,’ the Mizen deputy said, ‘I am meeting countless people at clinics who are in real danger of being made homeless.’
He said the Rural Independents group has put in amendments aimed at protecting small property owners, but these have been dismissed by the government.
Social Democrat leader Holly Cairns told The Southern Star: ‘I am opposing the end of the eviction ban in the middle of a housing crisis. Thousands of renters are facing eviction with nowhere to go. Lifting the ban will lead to more families becoming homeless at a time when Ireland already has record numbers of homeless people.
‘The government’s decision,’ she added, ‘is indefensible.’
