SINN FEIN president Mary Lou McDonald has called on members of the Irish parliament to back her party’s bid today to extend the “no fault” eviction ban across Ireland.

The evictions ban, which was introduced in October last year, is due to expire on March 31.

Critics fear that without the protection provided by the law thousands of households are likely to be served with eviction notices by landlords.

Tenants who don’t pay their rent or cause damage to the property could still be evicted under the ban.

When the scheme was introduced, the Irish government said that the aim of the ban was to put a stop to landlords selling properties and leaving people homeless over the winter months.

Ms McDonald told the Virgin Media Tonight Show on Monday that “the government is doing this and failed to answer the simple question repeatedly, where do these people go?” 

She said: “I cannot fathom that any government with its eyes wide open would take a decision that it knows will spell catastrophe for thousands of people. 

“Anybody with any sense of decency, fair play or rationality would look at this situation and say: ‘We have got record homelessness. We’re in the grip of a housing crisis and we have been for many, many years. 750,000 people live in the private rental sector in Ireland. All of them, therefore, lose a protection that was very, very valuable.’

“Everybody tells us that this will be disastrous for countless numbers of families. And we could not let that go. We should not let that go. Nobody on the backbenches should blindly follow a government that clearly has lost its way, that clearly has lost any sense of priority.” 

The outcome of the debate is due after the Star goes to print.