5,000 in housing hell since ban lift
O Broin slams taoiseach-in-waiting over crisis
More than 5,000 people have entered emergency accommodation since the ban on no-fault evictions was lifted last year, eoin o Broin claimed yesterday.
The Sinn Fein TD said the vast majority were as a “direct result” of last April’s decision.
The Government introduced a ban on no-fault evictions last winter amid inflationary pressures and rising homelessness.
But new figures released last week revealed the country has reached a new record of people in emergency accommodation – 13,841 by the end of February.
This includes 4,170 children, also the highest recorded, across 1,994 families.
Based on analysis carried out by Dublin TD Mr O Broin, he said that thousands of people have entered emergency accommodation because of no-fault evictions.
He also accused the Taoiseach-in-waiting – new Fine Gael leader Simon Harris – of being “silent on housing”.
Mr O Broin added: “He was elected leader of Fine Gael a week-and-a-half ago. He set out his priorities across a range of issues. Housing doesn’t appear to be one of them.
“In fact, I can’t think of a single thing he has said on the issue of housing and homelessness since Sunday before last.
“What makes that particularly concerning is this week is the anniversary of the ending of the ban on no-fault evictions. It came to an end on April 1 last year and we told the Government at the time if they proceeded with that policy, in the absence of adequate supports, a significant number of additional people would become homeless and end up in emergency accommodation.”
Last week, Minister for Housing Darragh O’brien released homeless figures for February as well as figures for social affordable house builds last year.
Mr O Broin added: “All categories of homelessness were up to historic highs. For the first time since 2016, the number of households in local authority housing waiting lists has increased.
“And yet again, for the fourth year in a row, Darragh O’brien has missed crucial social and affordable housing targets.”