Stephen Donnelly claims Irish public are ‘worried about Sinn Féin-led Government’

The Fianna Fáil politician was speaking after the Government voted against extending the eviction ban beyond this month during a heated Dáil debate yesterday.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney said the Government was “trying to make a decision for the greater good” and that extending the ban would put pressure on the rental market as it would cause landlords to sell their properties.

Criticising the decision, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said yesterday's verdict “shows that the Government is not on the side of hard-pressed renters”.

Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show this morning, Minister Donnelly said that Sinn Féin politicians were keen to “throw in the towel” on landlords but would not help to solve the housing crisis if they won the next election.

“Anecdotally, yes, I have heard people say that they are worried about a Sinn Féin-led Government,” he said.

“When they listen to Eoin Ó Broin, who on the radio yesterday morning seemed to throw in the towel on the rental market and small landlords.

“86pc of... rental properties are rented out by small landlords who have one or two properties.”

Minister Donnelly acknowledged that many landlords in the capital are selling their properties, causing a shortage of housing and driving prices up.

He added that the Housing Minister hopes to introduce various short-term schemes that are “really important” for tenant’s protection.

“What Government has to do really is two things,” he said.

“We have to make sure that tenants have security of tenure and they have to have protections in place.

“And we have to make sure that there’s enough properties to actually rent.

“Like if someone is selling a property and you’ve got a tenant in situ, the local authority comes in and says, ‘We’ll buy the property, we’ll keep the tenant in situ and we’ll increase the social housing stock.’

“These [reforms] are really important but ultimately, what matters is we increase housing stock.

“Minister O’Brien has overseen the biggest increase in social housing stock last year in 48 years - I think that is very encouraging - but we have to make sure there are sufficient rental properties available for renters.”