Government wins motion of confidence vote after heated Dáil debate

Kenneth Fox

Updated at 19:30

The Government has won a motion of confidence in a Dáil vote.

As the Irish Examiner reports, Micheál Martin's coalition secured 85 votes in the motion which was tabled in response to a no-confidence vote by Sinn Féin.

Independent TD Matt Shanahan abstained in the ballot, while 66 TDs voted against the Government.

Prior to the vote, the Taoiseach strongly defended the Government's record on housing and health during a confidence motion in the Dáil.

Eatlier, it was reported that exiled Green Party TDs Patrick Costello and Neasa Hourigan came to an agreement to vote with the Government on the motion of confidence.

Ms Hourigan and Mr Costello had the whip removed from them in May after they voted against the coalition on an issue related to the relocation of the National Maternity Hospital.

Mr Martin was forced to move the motion of confidence in the Government, which was sparked by Sinn Féin's plan to present a no-confidence motion later this evening.

There were pointed exchanges, applause and interruptions, with some speakers being drowned out by heckling during the debate on the motion.

Dismissing Sinn Féin suggestions that the Government is "out of road", Mr Martin said the coalition has disagreements but works hard to overcome them and to honour its "ambitious and achievable" programme of work.

"We each have our priorities and remain separate parties. This is how successful coalition governments across Europe work," Mr Martin said.

Hitting out at Mary Lou McDonald's party, the Taoiseach said: "Shouting ‘not enough’, ‘more’ and ‘what-about’ represents an approach to politics that is, at its heart, deeply dishonest."

Mr Martin said: "It is a striking fact that the party that is today telling us how our country is a basket case where everything has been wrong for 100 years is, at the same time, claiming that country is so successful that it should be irresistible to the North."

Meanwhile, Ms McDonald claimed that the Government has "no urgency" and "no vision" and said the coalition is "unravelling before our very eyes".

She pointed to three major issues where the Government has failed - housing, health and the cost-of-living crisis.

A heated debate then ensued, with Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien telling Ms McDonald that her “arrogance had not just gone stratospheric, it’s gone intergalactic”.

“You’d need Nasa’s Webb telescope to be able to track it,” Mr O’Brien said.

The coalition has gradually seen its majority erode in the last year.

In May, Green TDs Neasa Hourigan and Patrick Costello had the whip removed from them after they voted against the Government to call for the National Maternity Hospital to be built on publicly owned land.

That came after Marc MacSharry quit Fianna Fáil last year.

Mr McHugh and Mr MacSharry voted confidence in the government on Tuesday evening, as did both Green Party TDs.

Additional reporting PA