Tánaiste Micheál Martin has warned there could be a risk to supply if the winter eviction ban is extended beyond March.
Despite the temporary moratorium on no-fault evictions being in place since November, homeless figures have continued to increase to new record highs for the past six months.
The Foreign Affairs and Defence Minister also said that if it was to be extended, it would have to be done on a long-term basis in order to be “honest” with the market and renters.
The Government has concerns that an eviction ban implemented outside the context of an emergency could be contrary to property rights enshrined in the constitution.
It has been rebutted that the scale of Ireland’s housing crisis and repeated record homeless figures warrant such an intervention by the state.
It would require a test case to be fought in the courts to establish for certain whether it would be unconstitutional.
During Leaders’ Questions, Mr Martin was asked by Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy to clarify whether the moratorium would be extended.
“I accept there is a balance of rights,” she told the Dáil.
“Those already in homelessness and those who are facing homelessness have to be seen as real people that are being failed and damaged, and that has to be factored into that balance of rights too.”
She said that if the eviction ban ended in March, due to high rents and a shortage of housing supply, “the floodgates on homelessness would really be opened”.
There are currently 11,632 people who are officially recorded as homeless, including 3,442 children. The Department for Housing numbers do not include rough sleepers.
“What is a trickle would now become a torrent,” Ms Murphy said.
Mr Martin responded: “If we extend it – and I don’t think you could extend it for a short term, because we need to be honest with the market. We need to be honest with those who are renting as well – what would the impact on that be on supply?
“Would it make it worse?
“Politically, the simple catchcry is ‘extend it’, ‘extend the ban and then worry about the consequences later’, or indeed, the consequences will be the government’s problem and the government’s fault.
“On the other hand, the eviction ban did work during the winter.
“Because of the crisis that was caused by the energy situation, (it) gave a very solid kind of legal basis to a winter emergency ban on evictions.”
He added: “We’re giving this very serious consideration from a policy point of view. I’m mindful of some of the negatives it could have on the wider sector.”
Mr Martin said that the legislation underpinning the eviction ban provides for a staggered ending out to June, to ensure there is no “cliff edge” ending on April 1st.
Ms Murphy said it “doesn’t feel like there is a plan of action for the end of this”.
She added: “If you’re not going to extend that ban, what are you going to put in place in relation to where people are going to live and what supports are going to be there for them?”
Mr Martin responded that data indicated that three times more landlords sold rental properties than bought them last year, resulting in a net loss of 13,000 rental homes.
“There’s a real issue here, we could make this much worse is the point I’m trying to make,” he said.
