Irish Examiner view: The storms before the storm 

The release of fresh data on eviction notices is likely to add to the clamour over the escalating housing crisis

Analyses show that while construction began on more homes in March, some 3,500, the quarterly rate still lags behind last year, and behind targets. Picture: Denis Minihane

Monday’s release of fresh data on eviction notices for the final quarter of 2022 is likely to add to the clamour which is gaining in volume over Ireland’s escalating housing crisis. And it is an argument the Government cannot win at the moment, because the numbers are simply not there to provide succour where it is needed most. On the ground.

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) will publish information on eviction notices served in October, November, and December. The temporary legislation for the so-called “winter emergency period” covered from October 30 to March 31. The last set of RTB figures showed that 4,741 notices of termination were issued to tenants in July, August, and September, an increase of 185% on the 1,666 notices served in late spring and early summer. The new statistics will provide more historic insight into the numbers of people at risk in a volatile market.

This release coincides with analyses which show that while construction began on more homes in March, some 3,500, the quarterly rate still lags behind last year, and behind targets. 

While the Government will issue confirmed figures at the end of April, it has relied heavily on the new starts metric in mood music about “turning the corner”. 

But the lived experience, to borrow a currently fashionable phrase, indicates there is a long way to go, and the public will take some convincing, particularly when it is widely accepted we need 50,000 new homes a year from public and private sectors, and we are currently achieving around 30,000. 

Homelessness figures were at the second-highest level on record in February, with 11,742 people requiring emergency accommodation.

The splenetic mood of some critics has been in full flow on social media, and reflected, also, a bad-tempered vote of no confidence debate in the Dáil where insults were traded and promises produced like rabbits out of a hat.

The reality is that citizens remain divided over the eviction ban, with opinion polls showing a high number of voters remaining undecided on the issue. They are unlikely to be in doubt forever and the evidence which comes forward in the next four months will be decisive for them, and for the re-election prospects of all the main parties.