Housing and homelessness policy responses to COVID-19 in Ireland: A social policy perspective

The housing rights approach supplies a normative basis for policy interventions in housing systems, including at the level of tenure relations. In the case of COVID-19 in the Republic of Ireland, policy responses to the challenges posed by COVID-19 to homeless and precariously-housed populations are described and discussed. While a path-dependency explanation fits the successful policy interventions to protect the health of the homeless population, eviction and rent freezes for the precariously housed population constitute a policy aberration in response to the public health emergency. The prospects of more fully vindicating housing rights for homeless and precariously housed populations in Ireland, as the public health measures begin to be relaxed, are considered in the final section.