Minister saved as Taoiseach strikes deal: Government survives Dáil no confidence motion over housing

The Government has survived a no confidence motion in the Dáil and avoided losing a junior minister over the housing crisis after a special deal agreed by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Government negotiations with junior health minister Catherine Byrne went down to the wire and she only agreed to support Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy at the last minute during the Dáil no confidence vote.

Sinn Féin attacked the housing minister, saying his policies had “failed” and that soaring house prices, rising rents and unprecedented homelessness numbers were an indictment of the Government’s work.

However, Mr Murphy said he would not be hounded out of office by “personalised attacks” and “populist politics”, as he faced down the motion against him.

Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin said homelessness in the last two years had increased by 60%, child homelessness by 77%, while the number of pensioners without a home was up by 80%.

The Dublin Mid-West TD noted how the Taoiseach’s own proposals for a vacant property tax had been “quietly dropped”.

“Minister Murphy knows Rebuilding Ireland is fundamentally flawed,” he said.

Mr Murphy, while noting that families were tragically still presenting without homes, said that 5,000 had left homelessness in the last year and that the housing supply was going up.

“More new homes were provided this year than anytime in a decade,” he told the Dáil. “We have a plan, it is working.”

Mr Murphy insisted that he would not be “distracted by “populist” claims or “hounded out of office” by “personalised attacks”.

Housing Minister @MurphyEoghan tells Dáil he won't be hounded out of office by personalised attacks against him. He accuses Sinn Féin of being "dishonest" over making people think the #housingcrisis can be solved overnight as @CByrneTD slips into Dáil chamber.. pic.twitter.com/kJNmOQ3tIe

— RTÉ Politics (@rtepolitics) September 25, 2018

Mr Murphy and the Government, as expected, survived the no confidence motion with Fianna Fáil abstaining for the vote, as is agreed under the government support pact with Fine Gael.

Despite support for the motion against the housing minister from the Greens, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit, Independents, and Sinn Fein, Government TDs rallied around Mr Murphy.

Fianna Fail housing spokesman Darragh O’Brien said his party were not supporting the motion as this would be an “irresponsible action” weeks before the budget and in the middle of Brexit negotiations.

Nonetheless, he said Fianna Fáil would push for new measures in the budget, including more reliefs for tenants, tax breaks for landlords and affordable homes. The Government were also addicted to spin and announcements, having produced six plans for housing since 2011, said Mr O’Brien.

However, much attention ahead of and during the Dáil debate focused on junior health minister Catherine Byrne. After negotiations with the Taoiseach yesterday evening, Ms Byrne finally in a statement said that she would back Mr Murphy.

Her support had been in doubt after the Dublin South Central TD fell out with Mr Murphy over planned rental builds in Inchicore, Dublin.

Instead, after private talks with Mr Varadkar, her statement said: “I will be supporting my Government colleague this evening. Over the days and weeks ahead I will continue to work constructively with all of my colleagues on the issues I have raised relating to housing and community development.”