Attorney General warned ‘substantial evidence’ needed to extend eviction ban

Ministers were warned that extending the temporary eviction ban could be regarded as a “serious breach of trust” by landlords, and that such a move could prompt an exodus from the market.

The Cabinet on Tuesday agreed to lift the eviction ban at the end of March, prompting warnings from housing charities of an impending surge in homelessness along with strong criticism from the Opposition but also rancour within the Green Party.

Green Party Minister Catherine Martin is understood to have raised issues with the move during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, after Dublin Central TD Neasa Hourigan said it was “completely the wrong decision” while accusing party leader Eamon Ryan of failing to “speak to our policy” of retaining the ban.

A senior source said that during the Cabinet meeting, Ms Martin questioned whether consideration had been given to extending it until necessary legislation had passed for measures to protect tenants when a landlord terminated a tenancy due to selling a house.

The Government was on Tuesday night scrambling to explain a series of new protections it has promised for renters. There is still significant work to be done on a new policy to give tenants “first refusal” on a property being sold by landlords. The Green Party admitted in a circular to members that a lot of details “still need to be worked out”.

Announcing the lifting of the ban on Tuesday, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien said it could “very possibly” lead to an increase in homelessness. “That could be the case and that’s why this decision isn’t taken lightly.”

[ Extending eviction ban was the easy option – but Government chose to take a risk ]

Sources said Mr O’Brien told Cabinet that correspondence from the Office of the Attorney General said that any decision to extend the ban would require “substantial evidence, and legal and policy justification”.

Ministers were also told that a legal challenge to the ban has been initiated and another challenge would be expected to any extension.

Mr O’Brien told Ministers that he had a “deep concern” that any extension could have a detrimental impact on the long-term rental supply and would also have a negative impact on landlords.

The Minister told Cabinet that he considered a number of other courses of action, such as a recurring yearly winter evictions ban, or a long-term extension of the eviction ban of anywhere up to two years. However, he said he believed it was appropriate to let it expire.

The Cabinet was also told, in a memo seen by The Irish Times, that the eviction ban was a “substantial impingement on property rights” and that there was a “deep concern” in Government that landlords would consider an extension to be “a serious breach of trust by Government”.

This could “further undermine their confidence in continuing their participation and growing their investment in the rental market”.

“Any expiry date that may be set in legislation for any extension would not be credible to the sector and would be likely to prompt significant numbers of landlord exits, when permissible,” said the memo brought to Cabinet by Mr O’Brien.

[ Ending eviction ban ‘completely wrong’, says Green Party’s Neasa Hourigan ]

Ministers were also warned that an extension would discredit future emergency measures taken by Government.

In addressing concerns about landlords fleeing, Ministers were presented with two reports, one from the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland which highlighted how up to 40 per cent of sales instructions in the last quarter of 2022 were from landlords selling up. A recent Sherry FitzGerald report was also cited which said that about 21,000 property transactions last year involved investors selling their property, with just 7,500 of these bought by investors, leaving a net loss of 13,500 from the rental stock.

Speaking in the Dáil, Green TD Patrick Costello called on the Government to publish the Attorney General’s advice, cited as a factor in the decision not to continue the moratorium indefinitely.

Defending the Government during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the “finely balanced decision” was made in “the overall public interest”.

Mr Varadkar said the moratorium had not been effective in reducing homelessness, with the number of people provided with emergency accommodation by the State increasing every month for which the ban was in place. However, the Cabinet was told that there have been fewer family homeless presentations.