The Government will not introduce a new eviction ban this winter, the Tánaiste has said, despite the number of people accessing emergency accommodation hitting a record high for the fifth month in a row.
Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said a new eviction ban would "do more harm than good" and could potentially "undermine" attempts to address the issue.
The Tánaiste said the "key responses" are supply and new build completions, and that in his view this is what Government is focusing on.
Asked specifically if the eviction ban, which ended earlier this year, could be re-introduced, the Tánaiste said: "I think it would do more harm than good."
Mr Martin said the eviction ban was introduced due in part to the "exceptional" issues of the Covid-19 pandemic and surging energy costs last year.
His comments come as the number of homeless people accessing emergency accommodation has hit a record high for the fifth month in a row.
In June, 12,847 people were recorded as being homeless.
The figures are made up of 9,018 adults and 3,829 children and represent a rise of 247 on the month of May.
Another record was set with 1,839 families accessing emergency accommodation.
'A life-altering and traumatising experience'
Focus Ireland described the figures, which it says are up 22% on the same period last year, as shocking and unacceptable.
Its CEO Pat Dennigan pointed to "a rising number of children are dealing with the trauma caused by homelessness", many of whom "will soon return to school from emergency accommodation such as hotels and family hubs"
"It is wrong that this is happening", he said. "[More can] and must be done."
Dublin Simon says the current level of demand for homeless services is unparalleled in the more than 50 years since its founding.
Its frontline managers report that employed people are continuing to enter emergency accommodation.
CEO of Dublin Simon Community, Catherine Kenny, noted the "unprecedented surge of people entering homelessness. This is compounded by the fact that the number of people exiting homelessness into housing is wholly unsatisfactory."
She warned of the "detrimental impact of homelessness on a person's health and wellbeing. It is a life-altering and traumatising experience, and being stranded in emergency accommodation for an indefinite period exacerbates that trauma."
Mr Dennigan noted that during the pandemic, the Government led "the successful implementation of collaborative policies encompassing health and housing, resulting in remarkable outcomes".
"One of these policies was the eviction ban and another was ensuring families who were homeless got priority for social housing," the Focus Ireland CEO said.
Call for eviction ban to be reintroduced
The Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan echoed this, calling for eviction ban to be reintroduced.
Mr O'Callaghan, who is the party’s housing spokesperson, said that today's figures are "the highest number in the history of the State as it surpasses the grim record set last month".
"Tragically, 3,829 of these are children, representing a 44 per cent rise since this Government took charge," he said.
"The majority of people entering homelessness are coming from the private rented sector where renters live in constant fear of eviction," Mr O'Callaghan said.
"The temporary ban on no-fault evictions was working. It resulted in the first fall in homelessness in over a year until the Government made their disastrous decision to scrap the ban," he concluded.
Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik accused the Government of "ploughing ahead with a strategy of hope rather than action."
She decried the "horrendous situation that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have got us to" and also urged the reintroduction of the eviction ban.
Sinn Féin's junior spokesperson for housing Thomas Gould TD described the situation as "shameful" and added that the real figure may be higher as the report does not "include the 'hidden homeless’ such as those sofa surfing".
He also called for the eviction ban to be reinstated.
"No child should ever grow up without a home, but that is the reality that far too many are facing.
"Too many people are living in emergency accommodation, desperately trying to find a home of their own. Entire generations are locked out of home ownership, trapped paying sky high rents while they struggle to save up a deposit."
Additional reporting: Samantha Libreri
