Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The answer is clear. The Minister is clearly running scared of giving TDs that vote. The Minister is scared that, in fact, if there was a vote on the legislation itself, his majority might start to whittle away from the six Independent Deputies he cobbled together last week into something fewer in number and tighter than would be comfortable. Therefore, we are faced with the bizarre situation where, albeit it is completely in order in line with Standing Orders and I am not questioning that, we are having an amendment tabled which is an exact replica of the wording of the Minister's counter-motion from last week.

I am urging all TDs in this House to reject this stunt, because that is nothing more than what it is. In fact, if there are TDs in this House who are against the extending of the ban, they should have the courage of their convictions, they should reject the Government's amendment and they should vote against our Bill if that is what they wish. At this late stage, given, as the House will hear from my colleagues over the next period of time, the growing level of concern and in some cases outright fear of tenants facing losing their homes in the coming weeks and months, this Bill is becoming increasingly important.

We are all dealing with cases. In my constituency, I have one particularly difficult case of a woman in her 70s. Her notice to quit is due on Saturday. She has no family or friends to stay with and she should not have to face the prospect of either overholding or presenting and being accepted if a place is available in a shared accommodation low-threshold hostel in Dublin city centre because that is all that is left at this point in time. Nobody should be in emergency accommodation, but particularly not a woman in her 70s who has worked her entire life and whose children have done well and are now living abroad. She is left here to face the consequences of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien's, housing policy.

The argument is the same as it was last week. The Government has not put in place the mitigation measures and has not put in place a contingency plan to stop the incessant rise of homelessness over the next number of weeks and months. Therefore, the emergency ban on no-fault evictions must be extended, not because it is a solution in and of itself but because it would give the Government the breathing space it needs to ensure that homelessness does not continue to rise but starts to fall. On that basis, I commend the Bill to the House.

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