Words: Eva O’Beirne
The protest will take place at the Dáil on Saturday, April 1 to call for a reintroduction of the eviction ban amongst other measures.
“We have a heatless government that is doing nothing to solve the housing crisis or protect people from inflation,” People Before Profit said in a statement.
At the protest on April 1, People Before Profit will be calling for “a rent freeze and a ban on evictions, price controls on food and energy prices, a cap on mortgage interest and wages that match the rise in prices”.
While the eviction ban is ending on March 31, the Government has claimed that many renters will remain protected until June due to measures within the legislation that protects tenants based on the length of their contract. You can check the Threshold website to check how the end of the eviction ban affects your tenancy.
The Government has acknowledged, however, that homelessness is expected to increase in the aftermath of the ban ending.
Proposals that landlords could get tax breaks worth up to 14,000 euro a year, at the cost of up to 794 million euro for the taxpayer, are being considered in the context of the next Budget. These measures are part of the Government’s plans to keep landlords in the rental market.
It was revealed last month that the number of homeless people in Ireland now stands at 11,754, including 3,431 children – the highest number of homeless individuals since current records began in 2014.
Numbers in emergency accommodation in Dublin are up by 31 per cent since January 2022, causing significant pressure from opposition parties for Government to extend the eviction ban.
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