TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said that the Government had “thought long and hard” about the decision to end the eviction ban, saying that it was an impediment to attracting new landlords into the rental market.

The decision to end the ban was taken by Cabinet on Tuesday, with Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien defending the decision saying that it would further reduce the number of rental properties available.

Speaking to reporters this morning, Varadkar admitted that the eviction ban is both an emotive and difficult issue and that the decision to end it was “hard to defend”.

“I appreciate that this is a difficult issue. It’s an emotive issue and it is one that we thought long and hard about and agonised on,” Varadkar said.

“We took this decision, the difficult one, particularly for those who are going to experience it.

“One [decision] that isn’t popular, one that is hard to defend, one that certainly isn’t going to get any votes for the government party.

“So why would we do it except for the fact that we think it’s the right thing to do in the medium to long term and that’s why we’ve taken that decision.”

However, Varadkar defended the decision by saying that he did not believe the ban was successful as it did not reduce the levels of homelessness.

“I have no fears on introducing an eviction ban if I thought it would work,” Varadkar said.

“The problem is that it didn’t when it was in place. For every month that it was in place the number of people in emergency accommodation rose.

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“It had other effects, new forms of homelessness: people coming back from abroad who couldn’t move into their own homes, people not able to move their kids into an apartment that they bought for that purpose when they went to college.”

He said that an extension would create a long-term issue, where landlords are discouraged from entering the market.

“We desperately need them because that’s how we get rents down,” he added.

Varadkar’s comments come as Sinn Féin are preparing to introduce a Private Members Bill in late March which proposes to reverse the ending of the ban.