LAST UPDATE | 21 Mar 2023

FORMER SINN FÉIN TD turned Independent, Violet-Anne Wynne has stated this evening that she intends to vote against the government’s counter motion on the eviction ban and will be dissolving her “pairing” with Minister Helen McEntee.

Pairing is the term given to an agreement between the opposition and government in which the opposition will promise not to take advantage of the government being down a vote when one of their TDs is absent.

Wynne had previously been in an agreement not to vote during McEntee’s matermity leave.

A spokesperson for Wynne has clarified that when this agreement was made in the winter it was decided that it could be ended on two conditions.

“We agreed when we set up this pair that it could be severed if Deputy Wynne’s own legislation was up for a vote, or if there was an issue of enormous magnitude for constituents.”

“That couldn’t be truer, we see it in clinics and phonecalls everyday of the week from constituents.”

A spokesperson for the Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton said that arrangements are being made for another pairing arrangement, and the same applies for Fine Gael TD Joe Carey, who is currently unwell. 

“As is normally the case, where a TD cannot attend the Dáil for votes due to personal reasons or on account of official Government business, pairs are sought with members of the opposition,” they said.

Neasa Hourigan

Earlier today, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said that TD Neasa Hourigan’s plans to vote against the Government were “not insignificant”. 

Speaking to reporters at Government Buildings, where he outlined the Cabinet’s counter measures to the Sinn Féin motion on the eviction ban, Ryan said he would make his views known on the matter to his party’s parliamentary meeting before stating them publicly. 

Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan has said she will vote against the Government in a motion to extend the eviction ban.

In an op-ed for the Sunday Independent, the Dublin Central TD said the vote is not about ideology or policy but “process [and] mindset”.

She wrote: “The row over the ban in the last few weeks can be traced back to many issues — but ideology is not one of them. In truth, there is very little difference between the policy positions of the parties in Dáil Éireann — and when we come to vote on the Sinn Féin motion to extend the ban this Wednesday, it is not ideology that will be the dealbreaker.

“We, like many nations in Europe, have learned the hard way that only the State is likely to provide the kind of counter-cyclical investment and building required to deliver a steady stream of homes.

This vote is not about policy. It is about process, about mindset. It’s about a sense of urgency, and about what this housing crisis looks like on the ground. It’s about priorities.

When asked if Hourigan will lose the whip for longer than six months, as was the case the last time she voted against Government, Ryan said this morning that “it will be a matter for the parliamentary party to decide. We have our rules and our mechanisms – we will follow those”.

‘Not insignificant’ 

He said Hourigan voting against Government is “not an insignificant issue”.

“We need people to vote for us in Government, with us in Government, because that gives us strength in Government to be able to deliver what the people who voted for us what they want,” he said. 

“You have strength when you vote together,” added Ryan. 

Hourigan is a frequent critic of the government, in which the Greens are a junior partner. She was previously suspended from the party from her for voting against the coalition on an issue related to the relocation of the National Maternity Hospital.

In 2020, she was sanctioned by the party after she voted against the Government’s Residential Tenancies and Valuation Bill.

When asked about other criticisms from within his own party, Ryan maintained that his party members have been “very supportive” of the approach taken to deal with tenants’ rights, adding that the new measures agreed today will be transformative. 

Green Party minister Roderic O’Gorman told reporters this evening that he hoped the government’s newly announced counter-measures could cause Hourigan and fellow Green TD Patrick Costello to reconsider their options.

Costello is yet to publicly declare how he will vote.

“I haven’t been speaking to Neasa, so I don’t know her position. I have been in touch with Patrick over the weekend. Again, I think he’s looking at the range of proposals that we’re calling for today, but you’d have to ask him in terms of the final determination.” 

With reporting by Jamie McCarron