Sinn Féin bill calling on eviction ban to be extended defeated in Dáil
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald in her office at Leinster House. Picture: Moya Nolan
A Sinn Féin bill, calling on the eviction ban to be extended until 2024, has been defeated.
TDs voted on the proposed legislation in the Dáil this evening.
It comes hours after the Government survived a no-confidence vote over its handling of the housing crisis.
Earlier today, 86 TDs voted in favour of the confidence motion that the Government had tabled in itself, with 67 voting against.
A number of Independents including Cathal Berry, Sean Canney, Noel Grealish, Michael Lowry, Denis Naughten and Matt Shanahan sided with the Government.
Neasa Hourigan of the Green Party also voted confidence in the Government as did former Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh and Marc MacSharry who has left the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.
The motion which was triggered by a motion of no confidence from the Labour Party concerning the housing crisis and the lifting of the eviction ban resulted in a debate labelled as "disgraceful" by Ceann Comhairle.
Mr Varadkar said extending the ban would have been the easier political decision to make and one with the least resistance, however, he said it would have made homelessness worse at a later point.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Government has accused Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael of making "disastrous decisions" on housing.
"The policies you have implemented together over the course of the last decade have brought us to where we are today.
"You followed an agenda that explicitly transferred to the private market, the responsibilities of Government to deliver housing for our people."
She added: "Instead of building housing, you poured billions into the private rental market."
Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the Government has "turned a housing crisis into a catastrophe" as he criticised the Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien.
