Hourigan may face severe sanctions if voting against Government - Green Party chair

Sanctions against the Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan are likely to be severe if she votes against the Government this week, Green Party Chairperson Pauline O'Reilly has indicated.

Ms Hourigan earlier confirmed that she will back a Sinn Féin motion to retain the eviction ban in the Dáil on Wednesday.

The Dublin Central TD has been a vocal critic of the Government decision to lift the ban at the end of this month.

Writing in the Sunday Independent, she said there are hundreds of children in her constituency who are homeless or facing homelessness through evictions next month.

"There are no more hotel rooms in which to place them," she wrote.

Last year, Ms Hourigan lost the Green Party whip for six months after voting against the Government over the location of the new National Maternity Hospital.

Speaking on RTÉ's This Week, Ms O'Reilly said the disciplinary measures facing the Dublin Central TD are likely to go further than before.

"Neasa has voted against the Government twice before. This will be the third time. I believe there will be sanctions and they will go beyond previously," Ms O'Reilly said.

"We have to ensure that we send a signal as well to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil that we don't want their TDs voting against things that we have negotiated."

She said all Government TDs are expected to vote with it and it is the "price you pay for going into government."

Attention will now focus on Ms Hourigan's party colleague Patrick Costello, who has also opposed the decision to end the evictions ban.

The Green Party is due to hold its regular weekly meeting tomorrow evening.

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Govt cannot rely on Independents in no confidence motion - Lowry

Independent TD Michael Lowry has warned the Government that it cannot rely on the votes of Independents when it faces a no confidence motion in ten days.

The Labour Party said it would table a no confidence motion in the coalition on 29 March unless it reverses the decision to lift the evictions ban.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik has written to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar asking him to implement the Labour proposal to keep the evictions ban in place until the monthly homeless figures fall consistently over a four-month period.

A defeat for the Government in a confidence motion would almost certainly trigger a general election.

The long serving Tipperary TD said if Government deputies such as Ms Hourigan do not have confidence in the decisions taken by Mr Varadkar and his ministers, then it would be very difficult for those outside of Government to express such confidence.

Mr Lowry said he expects Government will have the numbers to win this vote because many TDs believe it was not sustainable to keep the evictions ban in place indefinitely.

But the Regional Independent Group must first meet on Tuesday before TDs will make a decision on how they will vote on the Sinn Féin motion.

'Focused on solutions'

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has said the Government is focused on delivering solutions to the housing crisis, and that extending the eviction ban would only lead to a larger number of terminations notices down the line.

Speaking in Cork this afternoon the minister said: "Our view is extending this moratorium indefinitely might offer a simplistic solution but in truth would only create a bigger problem down the line, because you would have a growing number of termination notices suspended, which at some time in the future you would have to allow them to come into effect and you would have a much greater problem at that stage."

Mr McGrath added that the Government was "focused on solutions".

He also said that by "extending the ban indefinitely you are denying other people the right to have a home, because there are other people who might be saving for a deposit, who are living in unsuitable or overcrowded conditions and they are also looking for the opportunity to acquire a home."

Ahead of the Sinn Féin motion, Minister of State Peter Burke accused that party of attempting to hoodwink the public with claims they would boost housing supply, while at the same time objecting to building projects.

Additional reporting Cathy Halloran