Murphy defends rent freeze and eviction ban as 'things we couldn't do in normal times'

By Vivienne Clarke

Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy has defended emergency measures such as a rent freeze and ban on evictions.

"These are emergency measures because of the exceptional circumstances we find ourselves in,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

“These are things we couldn’t do in normal times,” he explained when asked about constitutional restrictions on such measures.

“The most important thing now is to keep people safe in their homes today.”

Mr Murphy also said that 30 tonnes of personal protection equipment (PPE) will arrive in the country on Sunday.

There will also be new supply lines within the country as manufacturers adapt to produce such equipment.

On the formation talks underway between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, Mr Murphy has said that any new government needs a working majority and not a confidence and supply agreement.

“If we’re going to put together a government it needs a working majority. It can’t be a confidence and supply agreement. It will need to make decisions quickly, that’s why a majority is important,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

“We are all making decisions now that we wouldn’t have made one and a half months ago.”

Mr Murphy said it was incumbent on all parties to come together to have a stable government to take the necessary measures at this time of crisis.

“Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are taking these talks seriously because we need a government to pass emergency legislation.”

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