Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said a safety net to protect tenants has been in place since the end of the week as restrictions on evictions are lifted, with his party wanting to avoid homelessness “at all costs”.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ryan said the government is providing a housing solution, adding that it has ‘fundamentally’ changed tenants’ rights.
“If you are at risk of eviction you have the right of first refusal to be able to purchase a property and we will extend from this weekend, 1 April, the tenant-in-situ scheme, so that those households in receipt of those supports can avail of that option,” he said, reports RTE.
The Green Party leader said delay in lifting the ban would lead to the same street brawls, or possibly worse.
He acknowledged that the government had to “act fast” on the challenges of the housing crisis and that local authorities would need to step in now.
In his view, he said, it was better to go ahead with a plan to “fundamentally change and improve tenants’ rights” in difficult times than to extend the ban.
The transport minister also said that the opposition does not have a monopoly on homelessness and housing concerns.
“We all have an interest in housing people and preventing homelessness,” he said, reports RTE.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Today alongside Aontú leader Claire Byrne and Meath West TD Peadar TóibÃn, he said there is no government model on how many people will be affected by the end of the eviction ban.
Ahead of the ban on no-fault evictions ending tomorrow, housing charity Threshold said it is preparing for an increase in the number of people using its services from today.
March was the busiest month the charity has seen since November, when the ban came into force.
Speaking on the same agenda, McCafferty said Threshold expects 430 lease termination cases by the end of March, when tenants were served termination notices by their landlords.
Mary Hayes, of the Dublin Homeless Executive, said she expected an increase in requests when eviction restrictions were lifted and was encouraging people to contact local authorities immediately.
Speaking to RTE’s News at One, she said they sees there will be more termination warnings from RTB data and it is important that people have accurate information about their options.
“Different people are doing different things. We are constantly working away in trying to find alternatives for people other than homelessness. We have capacity and have planned for capacity. We have it in place already,” reports RTE.
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