Government defeats Sinn Féin's Dáil motion on extending eviction ban
Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. File Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos
The Government has won a series of votes on the eviction ban, despite Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan voting against her coalition colleagues.
Ms Hourigan abstained on amendments from the Regional Independent Group and Aontú's Peadar Tóibín, and voted against the Government counter-motion on the ending of the ban on March 31.
In the final vote, the Government had a comfortable 15-vote margin, winning 83-68.
Sinn Féin had tabled a motion calling for the eviction ban to be extended to January 2024, but the Government was able to secure support from seven independents to ensure its own counter-motion passed instead, with amendments from the Regional Independent Group.
The group had eight asks of Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien including tax relief for small landlords and contacting developers who have not started building planned housing projects.
An amendment from Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín which would have limited the ban to those who had received a cancer diagnosis or become pregnant was voted down.
However, while the Government won this vote comfortably, Ms Hourigan's vote against it was criticised by two government ministers, one a Green Party colleague.
Junior Public Expenditure Minister Ossian Smyth said that Ms Hourigan's third vote against the Government since its formation was a "serious issue".
"I think it's a very serious matter, you know. It destabilises the government if party members are voting against the government. You know, we have a programme for government which in our case was endorsed by 76% of members.
Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe echoed those words, saying that the coalition partners often had to vote on "difficult" issues.
"It is a serious matter for any parliamentary party," he said.
"Hardly a week goes by in which we're not asking each other to make difficult decisions, or cast votes in the Dáil on very difficult topics. And we all listen very carefully to the views of our parliamentary party.
"And then at government level, we have great respect for the views that the different parties bring forward. But we do ultimately reach common decisions that we all do need to stand by. So it is a serious development."
The Government's win is likely not to be the last vote it faces in the coming days with the Labour Party set to table a motion of no confidence in the Government.
The party's leader Ivana Bacik said that Labour had little choice because the Government was not accepting its bill which would have extended the ban until there was a drop in homelessness.
“As such, we in Labour have no option but to table a motion of no confidence in the Government next week, during private members' time on 29th March.
"It is being done without any contingency, except a series of last minute measures which could, and should, have been taken months ago.”
The Government move has been criticised by housing charity Threshold, which has warned of "an onslaught" of evictions.
Threshold CEO John-Mark McCafferty said that the organisation currently works with thousands of individuals with notices of termination, and the Coalition’s decision is likely to exacerbate the concerns - and situations - these renters find themselves in.
The Institute of Professional Auctioneers & Valuers, meanwhile, called the vote result "concrete understanding of market realities".
