Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach's Government came to office telling us that it was the Government that would sort out housing, but nothing changed; in fact, matters worsened. Deputy Varadkar came into office as Taoiseach last December. He said he would be the Taoiseach to sort this out, but nothing changed; in fact, matters worsened. There is no urgency and no ambition, only dithering and failure. However, the Government's determination to end the eviction ban and its insistence that it happen now, its urgency on this matter, stands in very marked contrast to the sluggish, incoherent, piecemeal, failed Government approach to actually solving homelessness. The Government's failure to provide affordable housing, its failure to cut rents, its failure to give working families a chance and its biggest failure of all, to give our young people a fair shot, on these matters there is delay, delay, delay in its approach. However, when it comes to the 3,000 households now facing the loss of their homes come April, there is no delay. The message to them is: "You are on your" own, with nowhere to go. Those are the facts. I call on the Taoiseach to reverse this decision and to extend the eviction ban.

See this speech in context