Galway East Sinn Féin’s Louis O’Hara has said that the government must immediately reintroduce the ban on no-fault evictions to protect renters in Galway.
The call came as figures released by the Residential Tenancies Board this week showed an increase in eviction notices issued by landlords in Galway since the lifting of the eviction ban in March.
The total number of notices issued in Galway during this period was 321, up from 251 in the previous quarter between January and March.
O’Hara said these figures show that the number of people at risk of homelessness in Galway is set to grow in the coming months leading to further rises in homelessness.
“Government must immediately reintroduce the ban on no fault evictions until such time as the numbers of people in emergency accommodation starts to fall,” he said.
“They need to deliver more social and affordable housing specifically for those in emergency accommodation using emergency planning powers and new building technologies. And they must ramp up the social and cost rental tenant-in-situ schemes.”
O’Hara said that if we are to see levels of homelessness fall, we need an emergency response – “and we need it now.”
