O’Brien says ‘blanket’ eviction ban will go into effect while government will engage banks in mortgage breaches

A MEMO will be presented to Cabinet today to prohibit evictions during the six-week period of Level 5 restrictions that will take effect later this week, said Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien.

Legislation that will go before TDs and senators will allow for a revival of the ban on evictions if the restrictions go back into effect in the future.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, O’Brien also said that his colleagues, Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath, will engage with major retail banks amid calls to reintroduce pauses in mortgage payments during the period of restrictions.

Last night, the government announced that the entire country will move to the strictest Level 5 of restrictions, with many of the restrictions similar to the first lockdown earlier in the year.

A travel limit of 5km will be set below Level 5, and people will only be able to travel further for essential reasons. There will be a penalty, expected to be a fine, for those who move outside of their 5km limit.

In a divergence from what was originally contained in the Living with Covid roadmap, a household can be reunited with another household if it is out and about away from home.

“Support bubbles” will also be introduced for single-parent families, the elderly and vulnerable people; this will mean that a household can be paired with another household to form a family unit.

Only essential retailers and essential services will be allowed to remain open, and the government must “upgrade” the Pandemic Unemployment and Employment Wage Subsidy Plan.

Another provision it contains is the reintroduction of the ban on evictions that was originally put into effect at the beginning of the first shutdown.

Minister O’Brien said today that the measures he took to support tenants at risk in August, when the eviction ban was lifted, were “very specific”, but today’s new measures represent a “blanket ban” during period of restrictions.

The government had been criticized by the opposition for lifting the ban on evictions during the summer.

After bringing a memo to Cabinet today, he said the legislation would go before the end of the week before the Dáil and the Seanad that would allow the ban on evictions to kick in “automatically” if similar restrictions were introduced again.

When asked about mortgage breaks for those who will now find themselves out of work due to the new restrictions, O’Brien said that the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Public Expenditure and Reform would continue to collaborate with banks in the coming days.

In the same program above, Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said Minister Paschal Donohoe must “call in the banks” to support the people and provide interruptions in mortgage payments during the period of restrictions.

“The reality here is that people this morning are waking up full of anxiety,” said Doherty.

He said that, especially when the Irish state has a significant stake in several of the major banks, “it is the least the finance minister should do.”

Doherty also called for a rent freeze to be introduced to help those facing financial difficulties in the coming months.

“Of course a rent freeze should be introduced, if ever there was an argument in favor, it is now,” he said.

Speaking of people in certain sectors who will now be out of work, Minister O’Brien said that “the government does not make any decision to close a sector for the simple fact of doing so.”

“If the virus continued unchecked, we would not be getting those jobs back,” he said, adding that six weeks was the “optimal time frame” for these new restrictions.