Homeless campaigner Fr Peter McVerry has warned a "tsunami" of misery is approaching after the eviction ban was lifted by the Government in the middle of the housing crisis.
The latest figures from the Residential Tenancies Board shows 7,348 households have eviction dates looming in the coming weeks and months. The figures also show almost half of the Notices to Quit issued in the last three months of 2022 were in Dublin.
Fr McVerry said the wave of of evictions are coming at a time when emergency accommodation is "absolutely" packed. He told RTE's Today with Claire Byrne: "We're talking tens of thousands of people who are going to be pulled out of their homes at a time when emergency homeless accommodation is absolutely packed.
Read more: Homeless figures increase slightly in capital as thousands more at risk
"This is the worst decision that this government has taken in its lifetime and it's going to cause untold misery." Fr McVerry also stood by his claim that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar overruled Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien to lift the eviction ban.
Fr McVerry said: "I’m not [retracting what I said]. But I can't produce the evidence because I can't reveal my sources.
"So the discussion, as far as I'm concerned, ends here. I'm saying one thing, the Government are saying another and we can't go any further.
"I can understand why the Taoiseach is denying it. This is the most controversial and, I think, the worst decision this Government have made in its lifetime.
"They have to present a united front. They can't be seen to be having cracks within the Government over this decision. So I understand that."
He added: "But if you look at the evidence, even for five months the eviction ban was in place and not one single measure was taken to mitigate the effect of that ban whenever it was lifted, which suggests, apart from my claim, that this decision was a last-minute rush decision, which was not anticipated."
Fr McVerry argued that the Government should have put legislation in place "five months ago" before the ban was lifted as he criticised the Dáil for going on recess days before the ban ended.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Mr Varadkar denied Fr McVerry’s suggestion that he overruled Minister O’Brien. He said: "That claim is 100 per cent untrue. There is zero evidence to support it.
"The Minister for Housing recommended back in October that we put in place a temporary winter eviction ban. The Government, including me, agreed with that recommendation.
"A few weeks ago, on foot of advice from his officials, three options were put before the party leaders [Minister O’Brien] recommended option one, which was that we should not continue with the temporary winter eviction ban for reasons he has explained.
"That is the absolute 100 per cent truth of it. The claim is 100 per cent untrue." A spokesperson for Minister O’Brien, meanwhile, said that he "firmly believes that the decision to end the winter eviction moratorium, as planned on March 31, is the correct decision.
They added: "The Minister has said this consistently and there is no question of him being overruled as suggested."
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