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THE GOVERNMENT STANDS ready to act on further advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), Minister Michael McGrath has said.
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform told RTÉ Radio 1′s This Week programme that while he hopes additional restrictions aren’t necessary, the numbers we’re seeing now with Covid-19 are “deeply concerning”.
“I think we have to be straight with people,” he said. “The numbers are deeply concerning and the current trend that we’re witnessing is not sustainable.”
Separately, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan told RTÉ’s The Week in Politics that it’s possible Dublin won’t be moved to Level Four of restrictions in the near future and emphasised the government’s commitment to keeping schools open.
McGrath and Ryan were speaking as the latest daily figures from yesterday showed 613 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, the highest daily number since April.
Dublin and Donegal are at Level Three of restrictions currently, and the worsening numbers in other counties could mean additional restrictions are recommended by NPHET in the coming week.
“I know that people are weary, we’re all weary,” McGrath said today. “Everyone has paid a price in terms of their own personal liberty. Many have paid a very significant economic price because of the restrictions we’ve had to impose.
But we need to get on top of this, and we need to do more. We do all have to ask ourselves what more can we do to adhere to the public health advice, which we all know at this stage. It’s very difficult and tough on people but as a government we have to stand ready that if we receive further recommendations from NPHET, then we will be examining those swiftly.
Minister Ryan said the goal isn’t to “eradicated the virus” as it wasn’t a “viable option” but to establish it.
“I think that there is real concern when you look at other counties – it is rising very fast,” he said. “We need to do the simple things, reduce the number of people we meet, avoid social contact.
“If we all do that we can avoid going to level 4, other counties can avoid going to level 3 and I hope that Dublin can get back to level 2 and Donegal too.”
He added that he believed it was possible that the infection rate could be stabilised but he admitted that everyone was “fearful” when the daily numbers continue to rise.
Meanwhile, and with less than 10 days until Budget 2021, McGrath said the government was close to finalising the provisions that will be in it.
“It isn’t time to withdraw vital supports for the economy,” he said, adding that the “overarching focus” will be supporting businesses and jobs in the months ahead.
McGrath indicated that there would be a “very large Budget deficit” this year, and that a “firm eye” was needed on Ireland’s “fiscal sustainability” going forward.
“Now is not the time to be pursuing austerity or anything like it,” he added.
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This country is so out of control. And that is very worrying.Fffg is a great bunch of politicians pooled together for their own interests. Mad ted..
@Paul Gorry: I think these charges are a wonderful revenue generator, if renters aren’t happy they can go live under a bridge lol
@Billy Meehan: Oh, wait, a bridge tax incoming, lol.
@Paul Gorry: anything that annoys you can only be a good thing
@Paul Gorry: Very simple solution don’t want to pay it don’t use it.
@Billy Meehan: No prizes for guessing who you voted for
@Rian O’Sullivan: don’t pay it . Use it!
How can a landlord monitor who uses a common area? That becomes a different issue.
It’s pure greed, what an absolute disgrace. Owning that many properties and making huge profits already, yet they want to squeeze their poor tenants for more. It has to stop, rents are crazy enough as it is.
@S banter: you do know the purpose of a business is to make as much as possible for the wonderful owners
@Billy Meehan: yes. But being a slithering snake to screw over hard working people and families when they’re already well in profit is simply shameful and sickening. No company should be allowed to own so many rental properties in this country.
@S banter: were you always a communist? Perhaps you should move to that Kip China lol
@S banter: Yes they should grow up kid you will learn about economics in the later years of education.
Ires Reit is the one who should be charged
@RIP: awesome company
@Billy Meehan: Lawless you mean!
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: amazing company and I hope they make a fortune :)
@RIP: more taxes as they pay very little
They’re just testing what they can get away with and under what grounds they’re told no. If this is made into a simple RPZ issue the whole thing will be moot if the government goes ahead with plans to scrap RPZs. Within a week, extra charges for common spaces will become the norm.
And the government really believes the private sector is the answer to the housing crisis?
This interference by the RTB is unacceptable and it should have been abolished a long time ago. The reason that landlords have to add these extra fees is precisely because of rent control. Just because a law says “you can only raise rent by 2%”, that doesn’t suddenly mean that the cost of owning, maintaining or building housing stays the same. If property taxes, maintenance costs, compliance costs and mortgage rates go up by more than 2%, landlords will find other ways to pass on those costs, like increasing move-in costs, reducing maintenance, requiring higher security deposits and cutting back on the number of services offered. Rent control ignores the laws of supply and demand. Dublin’s rental market is collapsing because the government killed housing supply while demand is exploding.
@William Jennings: it’s disgraceful, private landlords should be able to charge what they want
@William Jennings: what confuses me is if you compare Dublin with Stockholm, rent per M2 in Stockholm is 25% cheaper, yet the cost of buying in Stockholm is almost 50% dearer, how do Swedish landlords make any money and why have they all not left the market. It seems Irish landlords want their properties paid off over a very short time, ie they never seem to factor in the massive property capital appreciation when they talk about the profit they make, only rental rental yields.
@William Jennings: Plenty of Landlords in Dublin, no shortage of rentals if you are willing to pay a lot of money. Most don’t even register their properties with the RTB or Revenue, but their day will come when Revenue sends them their tax bill.
@Eddie Garvey: not many people rent in Sweden because they offer 100 year mortgage so it’s easier and cheaper to buy.
@tony hilton: 35% rent in Sweden, that’s more than in Ireland
@Eddie Garvey: my point is , you can buy if you want with even a small income. You don’t get that choice in ireland
@tony hilton: Fair point, but it’s a double whammy here because landlords charge massive rents making it harder for would be buyers to save and those who just want to rent to do so into their retirement. How come landlords in Stockholm (could be Alicante etc) charge less rent even though property is dearer.
@William Jennings: you must be a landlord or work for one.
For anyone who thinks the government should remove the rent cap here is an example of what vulture funds will do with the cap – imagine how much they’ll increase the rent if the cap is lifted
If you are looking for governmental help then you come to realise everything is capped to a certain amount. Yet any foreign company providing a service here can command extortionate prices if they do so wish to. I realise it’s to do with availability and demand but why this government is not working more for its citizens is a true mystery. On top of that, more housing, more citizens stay, start families, increase of local population without the need to import them. Return of thousands who left…… It is just being run more into the ground day by day….
The solution is straightforward: tax the Reits.
The small landlord is text to the hilt at 60% yet institutional so-called professional landlords are virtually tax-free. And the worthless ministers for housing ran the small landlords out of the market at a time when small landlords were needed most.
They reckon this shower have about 1.8 billion of housing stock here. All of these properties should be CPO’d by government and send these tyrants packing back to where they came from. Almost 4000 dwellings into public ownership in the blink of an eye. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. But out spineless gov could never imagine doing such a thing.
The government seems more concerned with foreign students than indigenous Irish. There are student apartment blocks all around the city centre. India has a population of 1.4 billion, yet they can’t educate their own. We have to put “political correctness” and “the thought police” aside, and concentrate on logic and moderation.
@Shane Gallagher: your mistaken if you think teaching fgn students is pc or woke. It’s all about massive profit.
“RTB writes to…” Try, “initiates court proceedings against…”. Farcical.
The residents dont know how lucky the are that the landlord supplies free air to the property
Window dressing
Our many governments have led by example with made up charges and taxes just to steal money out of your pocket. so if it’s good for them then others will think it’s acceptable practice also.
have your say