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# casting vote
By a whisker!: After 51-51 tie, Ceann Comhairle votes with government to defeat Anti-Evictions Bill
Sean Ó Fearghaíl voted with the government despite being elected as a Fianna Fáil TD.
CEANN COMHAIRLE SEAN Ó Fearghaíl was forced to break a tie in a Dáil vote after opposition TDs proposed a bill that seeks to provide more protection to tenants.
The Dáil was tied 51-51 on the Anti-Evictions Bill 2016 which was proposed by AAA-PBP deputies.
The government opposed the Bill and Fianna Fáil abstained during the vote.
After a walk through was required due to the to the closeness of the vote, the final numbers tallied at 51-51 meaning that the Ceann Comhairle had to make a casting vote.
Ó Fearghaíl voted with the government in following a long-standing precedent the the Ceann Comhairle sides with the government in the case of a tie.
This is despite the fact that Ó Fearghaíl was elected as a Fianna Fáil member and they abstained during the vote.
The bill itself seeks to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 in a number of ways.
Among them it would remove the sale of sale of property as a grounds for terminating a tenancy.
It would provide for compensation where a tenancy is terminated on the ground that the dwelling is required by the landlord or a relative of the landlord for their own occupation.
It would also extend the notice periods for new rents and for the termination of tenancies.
Read: What exactly happens when the new Dáil sits on Thursday? >
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