Thousands of people renting in Ireland could be hit with another blow after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed the end date stands for now on the existing eviction ban - and it’s only weeks away.
The ban was brought into effect in October 2022 and meant that landlords were not permitted to act on eviction notices until April 2023 - unless there were cases of no payments or antisocial behaviour.
The Taoiseach confirmed that there has been no confirmation in terms of an extension, and so the rules are due to expire on March 31, 2023.
READ MORE: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tells RTE Prime Time further energy credit possible this year
Varadkar clarified that a final decision will be made at Cabinet next Tuesday, on March 7.
Speaking on Thursday night’s Prime Time programme on RTE, he explained: "We haven't made a decision yet.
"At Cabinet on Tuesday is when we're going to make that decision.
"It runs until the end of March and we will be giving people plenty of notice about that."
With changes on the way, Mr Varadkar said there are ways the government can prevent homelessness in Ireland which they plan to action.
"While we are making sure there is more emergency accommodation, I don't think that's the solution," he added.
"One of the things we want to see local authorities do in particular is that if a landlord is selling up, and the tenant in the house is a social housing tenant, we want to see the local authority buy the house.
"That's one of the ways we can prevent people becoming homeless.
"We want to make sure there is a package of actions in place to make sure that we hopefully see the number of people in emergency accommodation fall during the course of the year."
At one point in the interview, Varadkar said: "We stand for standing up for the squeezed middle." This comment set the conversation alight on Twitter, and most were not happy with what’s to come.
One viewer wrote: "Sweet Jesus the gall of him. 'We stand for the squeezed middle'. While we FG/FG have a boot on their necks. Liars going to lie I suppose."
Another said: "High tax, high rent, high cost of living, scarce housing, crap services. All of these squeeze the middle.
"Fine Gael are a high tax and high spend party who are spiralling the national debt with no benefit to citizens. V generous with hand outs. Buy votes but no long term policy."
A third simply added: "Lies, lies and more lies."
READ NEXT:
Serious alert issued for Amazon Fire TV Stick users streaming illegal content
Ireland 'Beast from the East' latest as Met Eireann reveals EXACT dates of 'impactful' cold snap
Pat Kenny celebrates daughter's milestone 30th birthday at Dublin celebrity hotspot restaurant
Well-known Irish presenter marked as favourite to replace Ryan Tubridy on RTE Late Late Show
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
