Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The root cause of this debate is the Government's decision to remove the only protection against homelessness that is in place. The eviction ban was put in place to protect renters due to the scale of the housing crisis that successive Governments have created. In the run-up to today's debate, several constituents contacted me to implore me to vote no confidence in the Government. I told them I have not had confidence in the Government since the day it came into office because I look at the facts and because I see my constituents in my constituency offices. They tell me what is happening. They tell me what life is like for them under the Government. How could anyone have confidence in a Government that knows exactly what the right thing to do to protect people is but that consistently does the wrong thing and makes people suffer? There is almost a premeditation in what the Government is doing.

Earlier this month, the Sunday Independentreported that the Government feared an extension of the eviction ban would lead to a dramatic increase in homeless numbers close to the holding of the European and local elections next year and that there was a political motivation behind its decision to end the ban this month.

See this speech in context