The eviction ban is a “life saving mechanism” that must be extended for another 12 months.
That’s according to Carlow People Before Profit Councillor Adrienne Wallace.
It’s following calls by opposition parties to extend the moratorium on rental evictions which is due to be phased out in March.
Coucillor Wallace says the number of homeless people will increase rapidly if the ban is not extended, telling KCLR News “Apparently there are about thousands of families that are facing imminent eviction and this will lead to an absolute avalanche, now we have to really ask the question can the Government give assurances that there will be enough emergency accommodation spaces available and quite frankly, and seeing locally, the answer to that will be no so it’s very important that this ban is extended”.
Councillor Wallace has a suggestion in that; “What the Government really needs to do is address the crisis by starting a State construction company, taking control of the market that is completely disfunctional at the moment and building those social and affordable homes that are so badly needed”.
And she adds; “One common trope that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael say in opposition to the eviction ban is that it will have an unnecessary consequence and that landlords will leave the market but we have to be very honest here, landlords can’t take their property if they’re leaving the market and what should happen if they are selling up properties or trying to sell their properties is that the State should be moving in there very rapidly and buying up these homes”.
