GOVERNMENT HAS STILL not yet made a decision on whether to extend the eviction ban, according to Minister Heather Humphreys.

A new record high number of homeless people in Ireland last week prompted calls for the eviction ban to be extended to the end of the year as 11,754 people were in emergency accommodation in January, according to the latest figures from the Department of Housing.

The total includes 8,323 adults and 3,431 children and is up again from the 11,632 people recorded in emergency accommodation in December. It excludes rough sleepers and people turned away due to lack of capacity.

The rise marks another new peak of homelessness and comes despite a temporary eviction ban being in place since November.

The ban is due to run out at the end of March, though debate has been ongoing as to whether it should be extended.

Minister Humphreys reaffirmed today that the government has not yet decided whether it will pursue an extension, saying that the move had been an effort to reduce homelessness but that it “hasn’t worked”.

She told RTE’s The Week In Politics programme that it is concerning to see the numbers in emergency accommodation rising but said there are also more leaving emergency accommodation “than ever before”.

“Government hasn’t made a decision yet on the eviction ban, and Minister O’Brien [the housing minister] is consulting with the Attorney General and it is his plan to bring a proposal to cabinet in the next number of weeks,” she said.

“But I think the issue here, and it always has been the issue, is supply, and it’s encouraging to see that in 2022, we have almost 30,000 new houses on stream, and that’s a 45% increase on the previous year.

“It’s about finding the balance to support the renters but also the stop the landlords from leaving the market. So again, we have to go back to the core issues which is increasing the supply of houses.”

Sinn Féin TD Eoin O’Broin said the ban on evictions was introduced in October when the majority local authorities had no emergency accommodation left.

He said extending the ban is not a solution but would give government breathing space to increase the supply of much needed affordable and social homes.

“Government must use that time to take the emergency action needed to address this crisis,” he said.