Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The constitutional framework does restrict. It was possible during Covid because of lockdown and the 5 km rule. The legal advice was that in that context, in a lockdown scenario, one could do it but one could not do it outside of that where people could move to get alternative accommodation. When people were restricted to the 5 km rule the legal judgment was made that we could freeze evictions. That was the legal advice presented to us in that regard.

On ten houses versus five, again it was a question of balance in terms of how at risk would one be constitutionally and open to challenge if one did anything less because there are competing rights here in terms of the Constitution and the law.

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