Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have three issues to raise with the Deputy Leader, the first of which I have raised consistently. Colleagues across the House will agree with the sentiment of my call. Yesterday, we saw a significant vote in Westminster on the Windsor Framework. Those who are opposed to it were humiliated by the number of votes cast in its support. We now need to see the Good Friday Agreement institutions back functioning and delivering for people, not just because we are nearing the 25th anniversary of that historic peace accord, as important and symbolic as that would be, but because we need the institutions to deliver. We need them to work for people who are facing the cost-of-living crisis as well as issues in housing, education, community safety and policing. The call needs to go out from the Seanad once again that we want to see the institutions functioning and delivering for people.

In last night's vote in the Dáil, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Green Party and a number of Independents effectively voted to make more people homeless. I call for statements in this House on how the Government plans to deal with the impending increase in the crisis levels of homelessness that people across the State are already facing. The fundamental question remains unanswered by the Government and its representatives – come 1 April, where are people to go when they get an eviction notice through the door? It is not a controversial or confrontational question for me to ask. Please, will someone from the Government come to the Seanad and answer this question, outline the rationale for last night's vote and tell us and, more importantly, those who are facing eviction where they are meant to go?

I commend a petition launched yesterday by my colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, calling for the banning of super-trawlers from Irish waters. He flagged that three of the world's largest super-trawlers have been fishing off the coast of Ireland this week. We all know the issues faced by indigenous fishers and fishing companies. The petition is commendable and I ask colleagues across the House to show their support for it. I also ask for statements on our offshore fisheries and, in particular, these super-trawlers.